Kuririn: Only Human
by tim333
Summary: Kuririn writes down the story of his life after turning 50. 33 parts, completed.
1. My Early Life

Note: This fic is based mainly on the manga, not the anime, so some details may differ from the cartoon version.

Dedication

To Son Goku - he has always been our greatest hope.

Foreword:

Well, I'm not exactly sure why I'm writing this, but I guess it's mostly for kinda selfish reasons. I'm still awfully shaken up from the events of about a year ago (if you don't know, don't worry, it'll be in here.) and I had to find some way to work out all of the strong emotion I've been feeling lately. I hope it's of interest to you, and I promise to try not to just tell the story that everyone already knows. Thanks for reading.

-Kuririn

Only Human

~Chapter One: My early life~

I turned 50 last week.

Me. Fifty years old. I can scarcely believe it. Now, you might hear that same statement out of just about anybody, but I really can scarcely believe it - I was totally sure I'd be dead for good by now. In the course of my life, I've been beaten, blown up, turned to stone, turned into chocolate, nearly killed more times than I can count, and actually killed at least four times, so I consider it pretty amazing that I'm currently in one piece. Of course, that's nothing compared to Goku, who's probably had every bone in his body broken more than five times, so I really shouldn't complain.

What follows is basically the story of my life from as far back as I can remember to now. A lot of it you might know, some of it you don't, but I think that all of it's worth telling.

My earliest memory is of the forest. I remember that the trees were thick and let in only a trickle of sunlight. I was very young, but I'm not sure how young. As far as I can remember, I wasn't sure how I'd gotten there or what I was doing. I distinctly remember someone lifting me into their arms.

That's just an example of the little flashes of early memory I have. I wish I could tell you who my real parents are, or why there are so many little weird things about me, like my not having a nose, but the fact is that I don't know myself. I don't really have any constant memory until I was about 5. I had already been taken into the Orinji temple, and I already had at least one of the incense burns on my forehead. The place was surrounded on most sides by forest, and at least to my childish eyes, it was majestic. The structure was simple and not monstrously large, but it had a certain look about it that almost seemed to say "This is a place of learning and discipline, a place of nurturing for the body and soul. This is home."

I got everything from the temple. I learned to read and write there, and it was there that I received my first training in the martial arts. I felt right at home there for a long time. As a young child, I had a tremendous respect for their teachings and their peaceful yet hard way of life. There were a few rituals that went along with it, such as shaving the head and the incense burns, intended both as a sign of faith and to help keep our minds clear and focused. The burns stung a bit, although not as much as you'd think, but I went through with them unflinchingly in my devotion to the temple. They leave a permanent mark on your body, unable to be erased by any kind of medicine known to science or magic, or even by death and reincarnation. Come to think of it, if I'd known that then I probably wouldn't have let them come near me. Oh well.

Okay, you're probably wondering at this point how a place like that could have possibly turned out a person like me. Well, I have to be honest with you - my intentions were good, but I didn't live quite as purely as I was supposed to. Honestly, can you blame me? I was a kid, and I got restless easily. (Actually, most of the younger people in the temple acted mostly like normal kids; they were rowdy and often cruel to each other. Most of the older monks, though, were very different. They seemed to have found some sort of peace. Maybe If I'd stayed, I'd have found it as well. I guess I'll never know.) So when I was a bit older I started going out to town sometimes with a few others. They were supposed to watch me but they usually got caught up in doing their own things, so I was left to wander around town. I was curious about everything - the spectacle of even a village was really exciting to a kid who had barely left the temple before. In town I got my first exposure to real people, real food and pop culture. I became a semi-familiar sight in the village and some of the locals would let me hang around and help out with the chores in exchange for food, occasionally money, and conversation. I was a pretty friendly and talkative person, which surprised me. I enjoyed being around people, but I never quite felt like I belonged there, and I didn't make any lasting friendships at that time.

On one of those trips, I noticed a cute girl and kind of fawned over her for a while, but couldn't really work up the nerve to talk to her. One of the other monks noticed me doing this and told me not to bother, that she'd never be interested in a weird runt like me. Of course I took this as a challenge.

Thus began my life's first major ambition: to get a girlfriend. I think it was a matter of pride more than of loneliness at the start, but it was set in my mind either way. I'm emphasizing this because it figured in a big way into my decision to leave the temple and become as strong as I could.

The martial arts training I received at the temple included some strength training, but it mostly focused on speed, agility, and above all, focus. We spent a lot of time in meditation and other concentration exercises, and I first learned to sense and control ki a bit, probably before anyone else that would end up becoming part of the 'team'. I took to fighting immediately, and great strength and speed seemed to come naturally to me. My first sensei, Orin, saw great potential in me, but I couldn't see it myself. I always felt very nervous when the time came to spar with my peers. I was a lot smaller than anyone else was - I must have been not much over two feet, and I didn't seem to be growing much. I got taunted and picked on a lot, and I had absolutely no confidence in myself. I lost a lot. This really frustrated Master Orin, who told me that a lack of self-confidence was my greatest weakness, and was something for me to overcome. One of the monks especially liked to taunt me. His name escapes me now, but I was frightened to death of him then. He was the best fighter among us, better than me, and he loved to rub it in. He called me a runt, a crybaby, and a weakling, and he beat me mercilessly. He made me want to run away, hide, crawl into a corner and die, in any order. I trained and trained, but it was no use at all - I would never be able to beat him.

One day when I was 13, I just decided I had had enough. The first time someone teased me that day I exploded. I ran off and collected everything I owned, then I screamed in front of everyone that I wasn't going to be pushed around anymore.

"I'm leaving," I shouted, "and when I come back, I will be the strongest fighter that the world has ever known!"

Okay, maybe I laid it on a little thick. Anyway, I ran out of there filled with rage, pain, and an intense desire to get as far as I possibly could from the place that I had gratefully called home for the past eight years.

--END OF CHAPTER ONE--


	2. Muten Roshi's Training

~Chapter 2: Muten Roshi's training~

I had very big plans when I left the temple, but I have to admit that they weren't that well thought out. I really had no idea where to go or what to do, so I hung out around town for a while. Eventually I learned of a rumor/legend of a great master of martial arts living out in the west. I also heard of a tournament to determine the world's strongest fighter, but figured that I did have to pace myself a little. I reckoned I'd need some serious training before entering a tournament like that.

Hence, I set off west to try and find this mysterious master, as much of a long shot as it seemed. The journey was long, tough, and kind of scary at times. I had to resort to methods like hitchhiking, and I got into a few real fights along the way. I found myself missing the temple badly. Every time I began to consider going back, though, all I had to do was remember the taunting and my rage kept me going. I would have sooner died than to have gone back to them with my tail between my legs, so I pressed on. I was heartened by the fact that the rumors about this great master seemed to get more specific and more widely known as I went on, which let me know that I was getting closer. I heard him called by a number of different names, but the one that was most common was "Muten Roshi" so I figured I'd go with that one but remember the others just in case. It was kind of discouraging, though, that he seemed almost to be a myth. Many didn't really believe that he existed, and those who did said that he'd been dead for many years.

My persistence finally paid off when I found someone who had actually recently known the guy. He was impressed by my determination and decided to tell me where I could reach Muten Roshi. I recall him warning me that the old guy probably wasn't quite what I was expecting. He was powerful, yes - amazingly so - but he was a bit odd as well. Once I got him going he could hardly stop reminiscing about Muten Roshi. At some point, he mentioned that he was the world record holder for owning the most dirty magazines, and he probably told me a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember. I was grateful for the help, but I really felt I had to move on, as I was on a mission and besides, his stories about the old master were starting to get too weird to handle.

Not long after that I set off for Kame Island, but I had to take care of a few things first. I remember wanting to make as good of a first impression upon the old master as possible so that he'd train me. From what I'd heard, he so rarely accepted students that I'd need all the edge I could get. I decided that I had to go in with a serious and determined attitude and the look of a real top-notch aspiring student so that he couldn't say no. I already had the attitude, but I looked like I had been run over by a capsule car. I needed new robes, a good bath and a good night's rest. What I really needed was money, and I had run out of that ages ago.

Fortunately, I came upon a miracle in the form of a contest. I saw a crowd gathered around a platform where a large, muscular man was standing and an announcer was proclaiming that anyone who could defeat him would recieve a prize of 5,000 zenii. That isn't a fortune or anything, but it was enough to get me to go up there. They laughed when they saw me... well, they weren't laughing for long. The match was really easy because he so heavily underestimated me. We had an argument afterward in which he didn't want to give me the money because I made him a laughing stock, but it worked out after I threatened to beat him up some more. I used the money to get a new robe made, and I checked into a hotel so I could rest and shave and polish my head to its best shine(stop laughing, back at the temple that was considered good grooming). While I was at it, I went ahead and obtained some dirty magazines as a gift to Muten Roshi. Dirty magazines were another one of the wonders I had discovered during those magical trips to the city(Sorry, but I'll be excluding that story from this volume for the sake of tact).

So, I finally went to Kame Island. I was kind of nervous - I had no idea what I'd do if the master refused to teach me - but I was determined to exude confidence. I planned out exactly what I'd do and say first when I got there. I didn't even allow myself to consider the possibility of failure. I planned to train with the invincible old master and become very strong, then head back to the Orinji temple and impress my peers, and then go on to make a name for myself. Yup, I had it all planned out.

I arrived at the island and made my grand entrance exactly as planned. I jumped in a high arc and executed a flip masterfully. It probably would have impressed Roshi if I hadn't landed head-first in the sand.

In retrospect, during those few seconds when I was imbedded in the turf, my legs flailing in the air, I probably should have realized that things weren't going to work out exactly as planned. Still, I was determined not to let it faze me.

When I was pulled out, I found myself face-to-face with a funny-looking old man and an even funnier looking little kid. The old master looked pretty much like I had expected, but the kid, who turned out to be Goku, caught me off-guard. I didn't think much of him just then. In fact, the sight of him pissed me off. After all I've gone through, it was a bit of a shock to my system to see that HE had managed to become a disciple of Muten Roshi.

I gave Muten Roshi my pitch, and he told me to have a nice trip home. After I gave him my gift, however, he quickly decided that he'd been a bit hasty. It was kinda creepy seeing him look at those magazines; I'd never seen such a pervert. He was the old master, however, so I tried not to let it bother me. When he gave us his first 'excercise', I did begin to worry a little that the Invincible Old Master might really be just an Incorrigible Old Lech. He told us to go find and bring back a "true hotty". Apparently Goku had no ability whatsoever to judge women, so I had to go and help him out. Goku seemed eager to go, and he excitedly hopped on his flying cloud and got ready to set out.

Wait a minute, flying cloud? This was only the first of countless things I'd see in the ensuing months that made me doubt my sanity. The Old Master explained the Kinto'un to me, and I gathered myself and hopped on. I fell straight through the cloud. When I stood up, they were both staring at me critically. Apparently the Kinto'un would not accept the impure of heart. I guess I was kind of a nasty little kid, but it kind of put a lump in my throat to be declared 'impure'. I ended up clinging to Goku for dear life as we soared through the sky in search of a girl for Roshi. He was even worse than I'd thought - apparently he couldn't even tell a male from a female without getting a good close look. It seemed obvious that the task would be up to me.

We hadn't been out long, however, when we heard gunshots and a girl's voice screaming for help. Goku decided to rescue her, and I ran for cover. Rescuing was a nice thought, but these guys had guns and I didn't want to be shot. I know, pretty lousy. Anyway, Goku beat them all up and we met a cute girl named Lunch who seemed nice and harmless. As a bonus, I could tell in one look that she was exactly the sort Roshi had in mind when he commanded us to bring back a "hotty". She rode Kinto'un on the way back, and I clung to her, which I frankly didn't mind at all.(Geez, 18's gonna kill me when she reads this. My memory is too good for my own good.)

The Old Master was very pleased with the job we had done to say the least. Actually, I felt kind of sorry for Lunch for a moment, handing her over to a guy like Roshi. She told me that the men pursuing her had been the police and that she had probably held up a bank. I didn't believe her - how could I? The girl looked like innocence personified. Then, suddenly, she sneezed, took out a gun, and shot all three of us. Fortunately, we were all varying degrees of bulletproof, but it was pretty shocking nonetheless.

We learned then that miss Lunch had a bit of an odd characteristic. Every time she sneezed, her personality and her hair color changed, and she had a tendency to produce a gun from Kami-knows-where and shoot whatever she was in range of. She turned back pretty soon, but we all kept a pretty respectful distance from Lunch after that. The next day we packed up the Kame House and moved to a bigger island to start our training.

We went through a few excercises before our training really got started. The first was a 100-meter dash. I was fast, Goku was really fast, and Roshi was a blur. We couldn't believe our eyes. That was when the old master introduced to us the concept that he called "The wall of humanity" or something like that. He said that neither of us had yet passed it, and that with more training we could both surpass human limits. Any doubts I had of the old guy vanished then and there. He was my new idol. We also did something involving finding a rock that the master had thrown, and it was then that I really got a glimpse of Goku's abilities for the first time. We fought at one point, and I never had a chance. I couldn't believe how strong he was.

Eventually, we finally got to the real training. The Old Master started our training off with a bit of wisdom that I came to live by. He made a little speech about the purpose of martial arts that just about drove all of my old motives out of my head. He told us that we train not to win a fight, but to better ourselves and our lives, however, if ever we should cross paths with one who seeks to terrorize decent people with undeserved power, we must use our strength to crush them with a mighty blow. That advice really awed me then, and I've taken it to heart ever since.

As for the actual training, it was INSANE. We delivered milk on foot all over the island(much harder than it sounds), did construction work, and plowed a huge field with our bare hands, and that was just for starters. Pretty soon I felt like I was going to die, and although he held out a little better, by the end of the first day I'm sure that Goku felt the same way. As if that weren't enough, we were told that we'd have to do that every day only wearing huge turtle shells on our backs, thus revealing why Muten Roshi was often called "The Turtle Master". We might have given up right then, but our master let it slip that we were training for the Tenka'ichi Budokai, the tournament to determine the "Strongest Under The Heavens", and we were excited enough about that to want to keep going. Although the training seemed ridiculously difficult at first, Goku and I used our deepest reserves of strength to get by, and soon, without even realizing it, we got a lot stronger. Although the tasks were still hard, they soon didn't seem so daunting as before. Something else happened during that time, too: I really started to get to know Goku. At first I resented him. I resented him for being stronger than me, and I resented him for being so ignorant and naïve. He didn't seem to know anything at all about the world. Yet as time went by, we got to be good friends. We were stuck in a common situation, and after all, how can you not like Goku? He was the sweetest guy I'd ever met, and although he was a bit slow, he was also very noble. He was friendly, too. He would have been friends with me right off, it was my hesitance that made it take so long. He never told me about his adventure with the dragon balls then; I guess it just didn't occur to him to tell me without my asking. Occasionally, though, without realizing it, he'd mention a name - Bulma, Oolong, Yamucha - and when I asked him who that was, he acted surprised for a minute and then smiled and told me a bit about that person. His good-naturedness was amazing; he had fond memories of all these people even though some of them had introduced themselves by trying to kill him.

Eight months flew by and before we knew it, it was time to leave for the tournament. Especially after we removed our shells, Goku and I knew that we had gotten a lot stronger. Still, I was unsure of myself. After all, we had trained only for a scant eight months and we'd never really learned any moves during that time. How could we possibly aspire to be "The Strongest Under The Heavens"?

--END OF CHAPTER TWO--


	3. The 21st Tenka'ichi Budôkai

~Chapter 3: The 21st Tenka'ichi Budôkai~

So, Muten Roshi carted Goku and I off to the tournament. What I remember most is how big it seemed. How utterly, mind-bogglingly huge, much too big for a little kid like me. In fact, the closer I got to the tournament, the more sure I felt that my being there was some kind of sick mistake. Man, we sure got some strange looks when we signed up to compete. They asked us if we were trying to make some sort of joke. I didn't think it was so funny. I felt like I was going to be sick.

The Budôkai was, as it always has been, a circus, but it seemed as serious as death to me at the time. My sick feeling multiplied when we got in with the contestants for the qualifying rounds. They all looked so strong and imposing. At that point all I cared about was not getting paired against Goku first, since I was pretty sure I'd be eliminated in the first fight. Well, I wasn't paired against Goku, but I wished that I had been when I saw my first opponent. It turned out to be my old rival from the Orinji temple. He recognized me immediately and began to torment me before our fight even started. The referee for the qualifiers called out our numbers and we got up on the platform.

"Just promise not to hurt me, Kuririn", he sneered.

"D-don't make fun of me..."

Any shred of self-confidence I was still holding onto at that point was gone. I was back at the temple, and everything was exactly the same as it had been before. Then, something strange happened. The fight started and he threw a punch at me. I saw it. It seemed almost to be moving in slow motion. I dodged it and decided to put everything I had into one kick, so at least I could hurt him before I lost. Here's the strange part - the kick sent him flying a good 50 meters and embedded him in the wall.

The audience gaped. Believe me, no one was more surprised than I was. I hadn't realized just how strong all of that ridiculous training had made us. Goku beamed at me.

After that, the qualifiers went by like a dream. It was ridiculous how easy the matches were. I blew away my opponents, all dedicated martial artists, like they were nothing. When they hit me, it didn't even hurt. Goku seemed to be having an even easier time of it. He was basically blowing on his opponents. It was crazy. Needless to say, we both qualified for the finals. So did Yamucha, who Goku introduced me to right then. He seemed like an okay guy, not at all the type to hang around in deserts and beat the crap out of passing little kids for their capsules. I didn't really think about it then, though - I was way too excited about qualifying for the tournament. I was also briefly introduced to Bulma, Oolong and Pu'ar, although I only saw them for a second. Pretty soon after that all the qualifying contestants had to gather to be placed in the bracket. There were 8 of us, and it was a pretty odd group - Goku, Yamucha, me, an intense guy named Namu, a pretty girl, something that looked like a monster, and a strange old guy named Jackie Chun, who was really Muten Roshi in disguise, although I didn't know that then. There was also a giant with a terrible stench surrounding him. Yamucha told us that the guy was called Bacterian and that he was famous for his stench developed from never taking a bath. Sheesh. Like I said, the tournament's basically a circus.

I drew the first match, against Bacterian. I was really nervous. I'd gained some amount of self-confidence, but the actual tournament was very different from the qualifiers. It was really jazzed up. There was a huge crowd surrounding the arena, which was itself only a concrete platform, yet had a certain majesty to it. There was an announcer, an enthusiastic guy with sun shades and snazzy hair. I love that guy. Somehow, the tournament wouldn't be the same without him.

My match against Bacterian was really weird. He supposedly paralyzed his opponents with his horrible stench, and for some reason this worked on me. This makes no sense because I never really smell anything - I don't have a nose. I don't know why I was so convinced I was smelling Bacterian, but the match was pretty easy after Goku reminded me that I couldn't possibly be.

The next match was "Jackie Chun" against Yamucha. I hope nobody in the audience blinked, or they might have missed that one. It was pretty scary. Goku had told me that this Yamucha guy was really strong, and he sure looked fast, but he never even landed a blow and Jackie Chun beat him without even hitting him. And I had to go against Chun in the next round. Suddenly I felt sick again.

There were a couple more weird matches after that. Namu beat Ran Fuan, who was fairly strong but relied mostly on using the fact that she was a girl to psychologically affect opponents, which is pretty low if you ask me. Goku beat Giran, the monster-thing, who wasn't too strong.(Goku was a funny kid. When they called him up for the match, he had gone off to take a nap and I had to go fetch him. Oi.) Nevertheless, that match was pretty close. Goku might've lost if his tail hadn't grown back at a crucial was when I learned that he had a tail, by the way. I couldn't believe it. That made another tally on my growing list of Things I Couldn't Possibly Have Seen.

Next I was up against Chun. I had seen what he did to Yamucha, so I didn't waste any time in attacking full out. He was quick, and I didn't land any blows, but I think I made him sweat. We broke off from that and he took a weird stance. The next thing I knew, I felt a sharp blow to my face and I was thrown back against the wall. I had no idea what had just happened. I felt like he had hit me, but he seemed to have never even moved. I couldn't even see his punch. From the sideline, Goku shouted that I could see it, all that I had to do was look very close.

Look close. Ok. I tried it. Jackie Chun tried the same punch again, and this time I saw it coming and blocked it. That was the first time I ever moved at "super speed" - that is, too fast for the normal eye to follow. I picked it up pretty quickly, and we exchanged whole sets of blows at that speed. At one point the announcer made us stop and act out what we had done slowly so the audience could know what was going on. They cheered when we showed them all of what we'd done in less than a second. I guess it was pretty exciting.

I was starting to weaken at that point, and it was obvious that my opponent was way out of my league in strength, so I tried a desperate ploy I'd prepared for just such a situation. Reaching into my uniform, I pulled out a pair of panties(PLEASE don't ask where I got them) and threw them onto the arena. Naturally Chun, being really Muten Roshi, immediately dived for the panties, leaving him wide open for a kick that sent him flying out of the arena. My ploy worked! I was pretty sure I had the match won at that point. Suddenly, though, as he flew through the air Jackie Chun produced an enormous blast from his hands that propelled him back into the arena. I gaped. It just wasn't fair. I'd heard of the Kamehameha before, but for some reason while training I never actually got to see it. My guess is that Roshi didn't want me to see it yet and Goku had forgotten that he knew how to do it. After seeing my opponent do something like that, I panicked and really defeated myself. I played right into his hands. I charged at him, and he circled around behind me so quickly he left a near-perfect after-image and hit a pressure point in my neck. That was it - I was down and there was no way I was getting back up. So I lost that match, but I think I did pretty well considering that Chun used at least 5 moves I'd never seen anything remotely like before. After the match Yamucha accused Chun of really being Muten Roshi, which he denied. I did realize that he looked remarkably like him, but I didn't actually think he WAS him. After all, why would the Invincible Old Master want to enter a martial arts tournament?

For the other semi-final, Goku fought Namu. Namu was really good. In fact, he was the only one at the tournament not involved with us in some way that was really strong enough to compete with us. He probably could have been a member of the team with some training. It's pretty fortunate for him that he never got roped into that. Anyway, he managed to get Goku pinned and he used his final attack. He jumped unbelievably high into the air, so high that we couldn't even see him, and then fell back down, using all of his momentum to strike Goku on a pressure point. Goku took all of the blow. It was horrible - I remember thinking that he must have been killed. The announcer started counting, and just before he could get to 10, Goku got up. He actually got up. From that moment on, I had an enormous respect for Goku. Not just anybody walks away from a blow like that. Like me, Namu panicked after that and basically defeated himself.

The final with Goku versus Jackie was long and more shocking than the rest of the tournament all put together. Right at the start, Goku was kicked out of the ring, and it looked like it'd be the shortest tournament final ever, but Goku somehow managed to fly by using his tail as a helicopter blade. I'll never understand how that was possible. Right after that, Goku and Jackie launched two Kamehamehas and the blasts hit each other. There was a tremendous flash of light when the blasts hit, then they were gone. I guess they canceled each other out. Man, that was scary. The Kamehameha seemed ludicrously powerful at the time, and I never even considered the possibility that I might one day be able to pull it off. The battle was intense, and it went back and forth as to who was winning, although gradually the favor of the crowd turned toward Goku as the old man seemed to be wearing out. It looked like Goku had him on the ropes. However, Chun suddenly got very calm and declared that he would win. I didn't know what in the world he could have up his sleeve that would make him suddenly so confident, but I knew it was going to be big. Chun suddenly clasped his hands together and produced a huge bolt of electric energy that shocked Goku and raised him into the air. It was terrible to watch. The energy tore through Goku and he cried out in pain. Pretty soon Goku couldn't stand the pain any longer, and he was about to surrender when he looked up and saw the moon. Suddenly, inexplicably, Goku turned into a giant ape and started tearing up the arena. Man, is that Goku full of surprises or what? Apparently Yamucha had seen Goku do this before, and he had a plan of action, but Muten Roshi(I'm tired of calling him Jackie Chun) was ahead of him. He powered up for an immense Kamehameha and blasted away. When the smoke cleared, the giant ape was gone. I thought that he had blown Goku away with the blast, and I was inconsolable. I couldn't believe that he was dead. Fortunately, he wasn't. Roshi didn't blow up Goku, he blew up the moon.

He blew up the moon. It was gone. In case you're wondering, I gave up on my list of things I couldn't have seen about here - it was getting too long.

Somehow the match continued. Goku and Muten Roshi knocked each other out, and the announcer said that the winner would be the first to stand, smile, and declare themselves the winner. Goku stood up, but he passed out before he could say anything, so Roshi ended up being the winner of that tournament. The crowd applauded wildly, and even though "Jackie Chun" had been the winner, most of the applause was really for Goku. Everyone was awed by his fighting spirit. Roshi collected the prize money and greeted us back in the crowd with a couple of tricky manuevers to try and preserve the myth that he'd been in the crowd the whole time. I walked away from the tournament dazed and giddy. I'm certain that I wasn't the same person coming out of that tournament as I had been going in.

--END OF CHAPTER THREE--


	4. General Blue And The Red Ribbon Army

~Chapter 4: General Blue and the Red Ribbon army~

After the tournament, Muten Roshi paused breifly to teach Goku and I a lesson in humility(I don't know about Goku, but I for one had just learned that lesson) and then offered to treat all of us, that is, me and Goku and Goku's friends, to a big dinner. Frankly, I don't think he was really prepared for the magnitude of his offer. We all accepted gladly, especially Goku, who said he'd never been so hungry in his entire life. We went to the restaurant and ate a big feast of a meal - well, most of us ate. I believe that better words for what Goku did that evening might be "engulf" or "inhale". I swear, if the Tenka'ichi Budokai were an eating contest, Goku would have no competition whatsoever. Goku ate and ate until the restaruant, which was a pretty big restaurant, ran completely out of food. I bet poor Roshi must have spent all of the prize money from the tournament on that meal. Oh well, he probably would have spent it on porn otherwise anyway.

We all went our seperate ways pretty soon after that. When Muten Roshi said that he wouldn't be training us any more, Goku promptly decided that he'd go off on a search for his dragon ball. I was the only one who had no clue what a dragon ball was, and I was confused more than anything as Goku's friends started jabbering excitedly about the quest Goku was about to go on. Before I knew it, he had hopped on his Kinto'un and he was gone, leaving us standing there. I'd have to get used to that feeling.

Yamucha and his little entourage went back home to Capsule Corp. Although Muten Roshi had officially released Goku and I, I couldn't think of anywhere I wanted to go, so I went back with Roshi to the Kame House. I guess I could have returned to the temple as I'd planned - my strength certainly would have impressed them - but I didn't really want to anymore. Actually, it was at that time that the concept of never returning to the temple occurred to me. Oddly, the thought didn't scare me as much as I'd expected.

Lunch was waiting for us went we got back. Luckily, she was in her more agreeable form when we got there, and she made us a meal and was excited to hear my stories about the tournament, which were probably pretty sketchy and embellished. It was too fresh in my mind for me to recall it properly. Muten Roshi started to tell a few stories of his own, but he quickly changed the subject when I asked him how he could have known what was going on at the qualifiers, to which only the contestants were admitted. He didn't have to worry - I still wasn't making the connection between him and Chun. For one thing, while training us he'd kind of built up a myth to Goku and I about his power, and I was certain at the time that if that had really been the legendary Invincible Old Master in the ring, Goku wouldn't have stood a chance. What can I say, I really looked up to the old man.

We didn't really have much time to get settled in before something else happened, but I could tell right off that living with Muten Roshi was going to be very different than it had been when Goku and I were in training. He had put on a kind of serious persona for the purpose of the training that he basically shed when we were just bumming around the house. Muten Roshi had been a hermit for a very long time, and in order to live with people again he obviously had some adjusting to do. It was hard for him to get unstuck of some of his daily habits and rituals, some of which were frankly disturbing. I also had to get used to frequent shouting matches between him and Umigame(Roshi's turtle companion, who's essentially the opposite of him in that he's very polite). Of course, like I said, we didn't really have time to get settled in yet just then, but this seems as good a place as any to stick these little memories in.

I practiced some of the moves I'd seen at the tournament to see if I could do them. After only one day, I managed to get down the after-image trick pretty well. I could only do one image, not two or three like I'd seen at the tournament, and I didn't travel as far as Goku or Roshi before the image dissapated, but I was pleased nonetheless. That was good progress for me.

A couple of days later, we had to go get some groceries. That hadn't been so much of an issue before, as the island we were training on had had everything we'd needed, but after moving back to the tiny Kame Island, we had to go out to town every so often to get supplies. Muten Roshi had an underwater/flying vehicle and he asked me if I knew how to pilot it. Well, I had learned how to work a simple hovercar while helping out back at the town near the Orinji temple, and the controls were really similar, so I said that I did. So, Lunch and I set out for town to pick up supplies. It was a pleasant trip. Lunch was a nice girl, and bringing her seemed to make pretty good sense at the time; after all, she was our cook and she knew what we needed. Besides, she hadn't done her sneeze-transformation thing in a while and I'd nearly forgotten about it. That was a mistake. Everything seemed to go well, and before long we had everything we needed, but wouldn't you know that Lunch had to go and sneeze in public in the middle of the market. Well, she produced that gun again(Where does she GET that thing? I swear I searched her for it before we landed) and went ballistic. She gave me a pretty good whack to the head and ran off and took a hostage at gunpoint, which sent the crowd into a panic. Before long the place was swarming with police and she had them at a standoff. Apparently she had too many outstanding warrants for her arrest to count, which was a pleasant bit of news. I had to dodge a hail of gunfire(dodge MOST of it - good thing I was pretty bulletproof by this time), knock Lunch unconscious, and fight my way out through a bunch of cops, ensuring that it'd be a while before we could do our grocery shopping THERE again. Oi. At least I managed to grab the stuff we'd bought and get it back to our craft. Still, the next time Muten Roshi told me to get groceries, I planned to tell him in so many words that he could do it himself. I forced Lunch to sneeze with a feather, and I yelled at her some. She was really apologetic, though, and I couldn't stay mad at her. After all, I knew it wasn't really her fault. Plus, she thanked me for being so understanding and kissed me on the cheek, which kept me pacified for most of the trip back.

When we got back to Kame Island, I was surprised to find none other than Goku sitting there waiting for me. We exchanged a brief "Hey, how ya been?" and I was introduced for real to Bulma, who'd come with him. I didn't waste any time in getting off on the wrong foot with Bulma. "Hey, you must be Bloomers!" I said cheerfully. Hoo boy. Bulma impressed me with her intelligence and drive, but she also seemed very selfish and seemed to have no standards at all, so we didn't get along very well early on.

They were glad to see me, mostly because they needed the underwater vehicle I'd arrived in. Goku impatiently tried to launch into a very short explanation of why they needed the thing, but I refused to cooperate until someone had clued me in on what these "Dragon Balls" were and why they were so important. Bulma told me that they were a set of seven balls - she showed me one - that, when gathered together, would summon Shenlon, the eternal dragon, who would grant you one wish. I just nodded; after what I'd seen at the tournament, stuff like that didn't faze me much. The rest of the story was that Goku and Bulma were looking for the next Dragon Ball and the radar showed it to be underwater. I happily volunteered to go with them. It sounded like fun, and I'd also heard of a pirate treasure located in the area, and I suggested we look for that as well. Goku warned me that it might be dangerous, but I'd gained a good bit of confidence from my good preformance in the tournament, and I was pretty sure I could handle anything we might encounter.

I piloted the craft again and we went underwater. Goku marveled at the technology. I guess Goku still didn't have much experience with technology at that point. We located the dragon ball in a system of caves that was wide enough for our ship to enter at one end. Everything went pretty smoothly until we were suddenly fired upon by a submarine. We panicked, and Goku made some comment along the lines of "Darn, I bet it's those annoying Red Ribbon guys again." Bulma and I just stared at him in horror. Yes, I'd heard of the Red Ribbon Army, who hadn't? It was the world's largest and most evil crime organization, and they had quite a reputation. It was death to be targeted by the terrible Red Ribbon. Apparently they were searching for the dragon balls too, Goku had thwarted them several times, and they were now channeling the majority of their resources into finding and eliminating him. I could have fainted. I was not having a good day.

We quickly abandoned our craft once we got into the dry cave. We didn't even have the time to capsulize it. We ran down the tunnels as fast as we could to try and lose them, and we seemed to do it a bit too easily. I learned later that they had held back after hearing how the other squad was defeated by just an old man. It still brings a smile to my face to picture Roshi beating the daylights out of those Red Ribbon goons. I bet they were surprised.

We started noticing some odd things about the cave early on. It was easily navigable, and it was lined with lights that were activated by a switch in the wall. Finding an old skeleton with pirate clothing clinched it - that cave had to be the hideout containing the pirate treasure I'd heard about. Somehow the thought of a priceless treasure waiting for us cheered me up a bit, and I strode confidently forward. However, a few steps later I felt a spear whiz inches above my head. That sure gave me the chills. It was a pirate trap; stepping on any point in the floor would trigger spears to launch from the walls. It was a very long distance across, but Goku jumped it and I did too, although it was a close one for me. Bulma had to climb over on Goku's extendable staff or Nyoi-Bo, which I'd never really seen in action before but, like I said, those things didn't faze me much anymore. Soon after the trap, we came out into a big underwater port where we were engaged by a pirate guard robot. It was tough. Goku and I fought it for a bit, being careful to keep Bulma out of harm's way, and Goku told me that he'd handle it and I should go ahead and get the dragon ball. Well, he didn't have to tell me twice. I trusted him to take care of himself and took Bulma to go get the ball. As we ran down a hall, we heard an explosion(probably Goku destroying the robot) and the place started to crumble, which made us hurry even more. We had to swim to get to the last chamber, where we found an enormous treasure chest filled with priceless treasures. Man, I can't even imagine how much all of that must have been worth. We didn't have long to enjoy it, though, because right on our heels was General Blue of the Red Ribbon Army. There was no one left with him - I suppose either his squad was taken out by a trap or he just decided he could handle us on his own. Immediately upon seeing the guy, Bulma decided he was a hunk and started fawning over him, lowering my opinion of her even further. The guy was disgusted and pulled away, causing Bulma to conclude that he was gay. I don't know whether he was or not - I mean, I was disgusted by Bulma too, and I wasn't gay.

It was clear that General Blue wanted a fight. The guy talked big, and I did too. I assumed that I could handle him along with all normal humans, which I assumed he was. Unfortunately, he wasn't. He was much stronger and faster than me, and he started beating me up. This made Bulma scream, but it was probably only because she knew she was next if I was defeated. Well, once I knew that the guy was out of my league strength and speed-wise, I decided to try a shadow or after-image on him. It worked, and I kicked him in the back of the head, knocking him over. He got a pretty good nosebleed, and that made him go mad with rage. He started wailing about how he couldn't bear the humiliation of having been struck and having bled. It was weird. Suddenly he stared at me and I couldn't move. Apparently, he had telekinetic powers and he had used them to paralyze me. He beat me up a lot after that. It just wasn't fair. I couldn't move at all. He took a big rock and prepared to bring it down on my head, and I was sure that that was it. I was only 14, and my life was already over. He raised the rock over his head and sneered at me.

That was the first time I ever almost died. I guess the spears counted too, but this was much more frightening. In my mind I apologized for everyone I thought I'd ever wronged or failed to do good by, and I beat myself up over how short, pointless, and stupid my life had been. I'd have cried if I could move.

Fortunately, it was just then that Goku came bursting out of the water. Goku has always had an unfortunate condition I like to call "Nick of time syndrome" - no matter how he tries, he can't get to the scene of a battle until the precise moment just before it's all too late. It's very unnerving.

I was glad to see Goku, and I was even more glad to see that he was way stronger than General Blue. Somehow he had gotten even stronger since the tournament. He had the upper hand until Blue used his telekinesis again. He did exactly the same thing to Goku that he'd done to me. I really should've warned Goku about it, but it happened fast, and I was kind of out of it. Soon he had a rifle to Goku's head and I was pretty sure again that it was over. Not even Goku could've survived a shot at that range(at least, he couldn't have THEN). However, at that moment a mouse ran by and Blue started shrieking and flailing around, making him lose his concentration and setting Goku free. I swear, next to Buu, that guy was the weirdest enemy we ever had.

Goku beat up General Blue, and the whole cave suddenly started to cave in around us. I have no idea why the cave picked that moment to collapse, but we knew we had to get out of there fast. Goku went further in for the dragon ball and said he'd catch up to us. I told him he was crazy, but I wasn't about to stick around and argue. We ran out of there as quickly as we could. Most of the exits had been sealed off by the time we got to the port, so our only hope was an old pirate sub that was floating there. We hopped in, and fortunately, it still worked. Bulma astounded me again just then by trying to leave. She was just going to leave Goku in there to die, just to save her own skin. I didn't doubt for a second that she'd have left me too. Like I said, we didn't really get off on the right foot.

Despite my protestations Bulma almost left anyway, but Goku caught up at the last possible second. The tunnel came apart around us as we headed toward the open sea, but we were going to make it. Naturally, that's when we ran out of gas and got trapped in the tunnel. You know, that was the first day of my life that I'd ever almost been killed, but I was already starting to lose count of just how many times that'd happened. Bulma and I panicked, but Goku just handed me a mouse(apparently he saved the mouse in return for saving him. You've got to admire nobility like that.) and said he was going to do something. I had no idea what he was talking about, and I was alarmed when he cupped his hands and said "Kame... Hame..."

The blast propelled us all the way to the surface and into the sky. Goku called the Kinto'un, caught us, and brought us back to land. I thought that things had gone pretty well, all things considered. We may not have gotten any treasure, but Goku got his dragon ball, and I was just relieved that we'd managed to get out of there alive. I casually mentioned to the others that it would've been nice to have gotten some of that treasure, and Bulma gave me a ridiculously huge diamond she'd managed to grab. That thing must have been worth billions, and she said I could keep it - she was already rich. Man. Well, that seemed like a good reward for what we'd just gone through, and I thought that at least it was all over. I was wrong, of course. We hadn't been back on the island long when Lunch in her psycho form pointed a gun at us and demanded that we give her the diamond. Although most of us were bulletproof, we didn't want Bulma or Umigame getting hurt, so we had no choice but to hand it over. She took it, nabbed a red ribbon vehicle that we'd used to get back to the island, and took off. We had to explain to Bulma then about Lunch's personality changes. She didn't take it very well. That had been the last way we had of getting off the island, so Bulma had no way of getting home. Bulma and Roshi argued about that for a bit. I looked up and I could have sworn I saw a rope coming at me. Suddenly, we were all tied up in rope so that we couldn't move, and General Blue walked out and asked us if we appreciated how hard it was to do that with telekinesis. That guy was amazing. He must have just swam out of the collapsing cave, and I don't think even Goku could have done that. He gloated at us for a bit, stole the dragon balls, and left us a parting gift in the form of a time bomb set to five minutes. Before he left, Bulma asked him if she could join the Red Ribbon Army. Man, I really didn't like her right then.

It was a real torture sitting there with a bomb that was about to explode. We all struggled against our ropes, but Blue had done something to them that didn't let us draw on our strength to escape. There was only two minutes left on the bomb's timer when Lunch got back, changed back to normal and very confused about what was going on. We went into a panicked frenzy and shouted a bunch of instructions at her that got all jumbled together. Finally, with about a minute left, Goku managed to get out an "Untie me! Untie ME!!!" She cut him loose and he threw it into the sky, where it exploded harmlessly. Phew. An explosion that size would have easily killed us all.

Goku hopped on his Kinto'un again and took off after Blue. We yelled at him to stop, but I don't think he even heard us. There's that feeling again. Lunch untied the rest of us, and the others started to fret about Goku and about the general situation. Me, I just went to bed, even though it was really early. That day had been a nightmare, and I was afraid that if I didn't get rid of it soon, I'd almost die again. Incidentally, I never saw that diamond again. Lunch said she didn't know where she'd put it, which seemed plausible enough, I guess. Although Lunch does get along pretty well these days, from what I've heard...

When I woke up, everyone was still fretting about Goku, and Bulma was still there. She did have some good qualities: she really was a genius, and from the concern she was showing for Goku I had to conclude that I'd been wrong when I assumed that she didn't care about others - she just cared about herself more, that's all. I guess you can't really fault her for that. We had an uneasy but blessedly uneventful couple of days. Bulma amazed us by building a flying mini-recon robot just out of stuff she'd found around the house to go find Goku. A few days after the mess with Blue, Roshi sent me out to get groceries again, but I didn't really mind. It was a relief to do that after what I'd just been through. We didn't have any transportation left, so I had to swim it. Before I got there, however, I was picked up by a plane flown by Yamucha. Everyone was in it. They told me that Goku had launched a single-handed assault on the Red Ribbon Army, and we were going to go try to save him before he got himself killed. I balked. As resourceful as Goku was, he had to be insane to try something that dangerous. I thought at the time that we'd be lucky just to get him out of there alive. How little I knew...

When we got there, we were surprised to see Goku coming to meet us.

"Goku! You gave up taking on the Red Ribbon?" Yamucha said.

Goku just smiled and said "What do you mean, give up? I just did!"

We all sweatdropped. Pu'ar flew up to check, and it was true - the Red Ribbon's Headquarters had been totally demolished. Everyone who hadn't been killed was fleeing in panic.

We all turned to stare at Goku. Same cute little kid. Same cute little smile. Somehow, though, we couldn't quite look at him the same way. I had known Goku was strong, but up until that moment, I'd thought that he was human. After that, I wasn't so sure.

--END OF CHAPTER FOUR--


	5. The Fortune Teller

~Chapter 5: The fortune teller~

After we'd all had a nice long gape at Goku, he explained that he now had 6 dragon balls, and he needed the 7th and final one so that he could bring a friend's father back to life. I smiled when I heard him say that - Goku was still as noble as ever. Goku had apparently busted Bulma's dragon ball radar, so we all flew back to Kame Island so that she could fix it. We all got back into the airplane and took off, and Goku rode his Kinto'un. On the way to the island we all kept marveling at Goku. Muten Roshi even admitted that Goku had probably become even stronger than him, which very nearly sent me into a state of shock. Yamucha and I exchanged glances. We'd have to train a lot harder if we intended to try and win the next Tenka'ichi Budôkai.

Back at the Kame house, Bulma spent a few minutes working on the Dragon Radar. Goku fidgeted a lot. It was obvious that his time was way too important to waste on such a formality. To Goku, there's no such concept as "down time". It annoys him when he isn't on the go. After a little while, we heard the sort of "hmmm" noises that mechanics always make when something is very wrong issuing from Bulma. She told us that the dragon radar was working fine, but it couldn't find the last ball. She had a few ideas as to what could've happened, but the point was that she didn't know where the ball was.

Goku was utterly stumped. "It beats me... What am I gonna do now..."

Fortunately, Muten Roshi had a trick up his sleeve. He chimed in that "Uranai Baba" would tell us where it was. "She's a fortune teller," he said matter-of-factly. Goku instantly lit up with excitement and was ready to go again. Yamucha had to go with him because Goku couldn't read a map, and Pu'ar went along mostly to keep Yamucha company. I decided I might as well tag along. After all, I was pretty sure that by that time we were out of danger, and even if we weren't, Goku seemed to have become strong enough to take on the world with one hand tied behind his back, so I figured I was okay. Of course, we weren't quite aware of what we were getting into when we went off to confront Uranai Baba.

I had my initial doubts about the trip's likelyhood of success. I trusted Muten Roshi, but just the phrase "fortune teller" was enough to make me into a cynic. I wondered aloud if she'd really be able to tell us where the dragon ball was. Goku was wondering too.

Goku's clothes were filthy and half-destroyed from fighting the Red Ribbon Army, so we stopped in town to get him something more suitable to wear. We all had a little fun at Goku's expense by dressing him up in a dressy schoolboy outfit. The sight of Goku squirming around in a shirt, bowtie, and jockey cap is still ranked as one of the funniest things i've ever seen. We ended up just getting a tailor to make him a new Kame(turtle, as in the turtle master) school uniform like the one he'd been wearing. Goku sighed in relief. He must have actually thought for a moment that we were going to make him wear that outfit. Heheheh. That still makes me chuckle.

We had some time to kill after that while Goku's new clothes were made, so Goku decided to go off and fetch Upa, the kid who's dead father he wanted to wish back with the dragon balls. Yamucha took me and Pu'ar to a cafe and we had a bit of a meal while waiting for Goku. The three of us talked with enthusiasm about everything that was happening, and we talked for a bit about what we'd do next. Yamucha wanted really badly to become stronger so that he could compete in the next Tenka'ichi Budôkai.

"Hey," I said, "That's great! You should come back to the Kame House with me and get training from Muten Roshi! His training is hard but it's really good. It made Goku and I a lot stronger."

"I don't know... do you think he'd really train me? I've heard that the master is very strict about accepting disciples."

"Aw, don't worry about it, I'm sure he'll train you. You should ask him when we get back."

That's more or less how it went, as far as I can recall. Yamucha thanked me and made plans to ask to become a student of Muten Roshi. Anyway, after that we went and picked up Goku's new clothes, and Goku arrived back on the Kinto'un shortly after with a cute little tribal boy. He was a bit shy, but after Goku told him that we were Goku's friends, Upa oprened right up to us. He obviously respected Goku a lot. I casually wondered exactly what Goku had done to earn the kid's absolute respect like that. Whatever it was, I was sure it was something awe-inspiring. It usually is with Goku.

You know, I actually mistook Upa for a girl when I first saw him, and Goku took a jab at me about how he could tell boys from girls better than me nowadays. However, Goku immediately proved that he still wasn't very civilised by changing in the middle of the street. I swear, poor Yamucha almost had a fit.

With our appetites satisfied and Goku properly clothed, we set out directly for Uranai Baba's place. It was a very odd location. We almost missed the building in the middle of the desert, by the only lake for miles.

When we landed, we saw that there were quite a few people in line ahead of us. We were placed in line by a strange little ghost-looking thing that made me nervous. The line reminded me of the qualifiers at the tournament: All of the people in it were large and imposing, and outwardly looked very strong. This disturbed Yamucha, who thought it quite odd that all of the people waiting in line to see a fortune teller should be so tough. It should have disturbed me, too, but I was still smugly set in my "we're out of danger" mood, and I told him not to worry about it. We did notice one group that didn't look tough, although they did look very rich. My mood got shaken a bit just before our turn came when all of the people who had been in line ahead of us came out beaten and bruised, but I tried not to let it worry me.

Actually meeting Uranai Baba was a bit shocking. She looked like some sort of miniature witch hovering around on some sort of crystal ball. She seemed amused to see us because we were so young. We shrugged it off and asked her to tell our fortune, and we were pretty surprised when she asked us if we had 10 million zenii. Actually, "shocked" is an understatement. Why didn't Muten Roshi mention anything?

She chuckled at us. "I thought not. Come this way..."

She led us to a platform that reminded me very much of the Tenka'ichi Budôkai ring. We were all nervous - we were keeping an eye out for whatever might have beaten up those other people in the line. Soon Uranai Baba explained to us that we had to fight her five warriors one-on-one, and if we won she'd tell us our fortune for free. I guess the reaction she got to that announcement probably wasn't what she was expecting: we sighed in relief. After all, Goku, Yamucha and I were already among the world's top martial arts experts, so we felt in our element. I fell head-first back into my way too confident mood. I volunteered to go first, and I even went as far as to declare that I'd likely beat all five by myself. Yeee-eeesh. Have you ever wished you could go back in time and smack yourself? Sometimes I do.

My opponent wasn't at all what I expected. It was a vampire. You can imagine how that caught me off-guard. Still, I felt pretty confident until the battle actually began; he didn't look so tough. I tried to kick the thing, but it kept turning into a bat and flying all around me, and then it bit me and started sucking my blood. Brrrr. That made me panic, and there wasn't much I could do about it. I was so disgusted by the fact that this freak would actually suck my blood that I just kind of ran around and screamed. I managed to shake him off eventually, but I had lost so much blood that I could barely stand, and I was still bleeding profusely. I managed to stop the bleeding through force of will, using a prayer and a concentration technique I had been taught at the Orinji temple. Goku screwed up my concentration by making fun of me and pissing me off, though, so I got knocked out easily. I probably would have died if Uranai Baba's little ghost assistant hadn't been on the sideline ready to give me a blood transfusion. Man, that was probably the most embarrassing battle I've ever taken part in.

After I got eliminated we regrouped quickly. Since we knew that he was a vampire, we decided to use that against him. We convinced Uranai Baba to let Pu'ar and Upa both fight at once because they weren't really martial artists. Upa chewed some garlic and breathed it at the vampire, which made him panic, and Pu'ar used her shapeshifting abilities to finish the job. It was a pretty big blow to my ego that Pu'ar and Upa had to step in for me and beat my opponent, but I managed to mutter out some words of congratulations for them anyway.

Since they weren't really fighters, Pu'ar and Upa declined the right to fight the next opponent and it was Yamucha's turn. I guess we figured we'd save Goku in case it got really tough at the end. Yamucha's opponent was even weirder than mine. While we were waiting for him to arrive, Uranai Baba informed us that he already had. Apparently, Yamucha's opponent was the invisible man. You know, there had to be an easier way to get that dragon ball, or at least one that made more sense.

Yamucha tried his best, but he just couldn't fight someone who he couldn't see. As I watched him, an odd scheme began to form in my mind. I kept thinking that the best thing to do would be to coat the guy in something so that Yamucha could see him, and for some reason, all I could think about was the terrible nosebleeds that Muten Roshi gets when he sees a sexy girl... Suddenly, my mind caught on something. I turned to Goku.

"Goku! Bring Muten Roshi-sama and Bulma here!"

"Huh?

"Just hurry!"

Goku seemed puzzled, but he nodded and left on Kinto'un. I've got to hand it to Yamucha, he put up a good fight while we had to wait. He even managed to hit his opponent by listening carefully to his movements, but Uranai Baba ruined that by singing loudly. Oh well, I guess that for all the cheating that we were doing, she was allowed to cheat a bit too. Goku got back with both Bulma and Muten Roshi as planned. They were awfully confused as to why I had summoned them, but I just positioned them as I had pictured it in my mind, tilted Muten Roshi's head up, and... and.... well, and pulled Bulma's top off.

...

Ahem.

For the record, I was only thinking of strategy and working for the greater good of the group. I SWEAR. I didn't even look at Bulma. And I'm sure that if Bulma is reading this, she'll recall the heartfelt and gracious apology I made to her later, and I know that she won't do anything rash like send a Saiyan over to my house to beat me up.

Anyway, to my credit, it worked perfectly, and Yamucha easily defeated his opponent. Bulma hit me good and hard in the head for my trouble, which I deserved. I really could've thought of a less embarrassing way to solve the problem. Oh well. Don't knock it if it works. After that fight, we got a startling piece of news - Uranai Baba was actually Muten Roshi's older sister! I hadn't thought that anyone was older than Roshi, much less his sister. Unfortunately the siblings weren't close enough for her to do us any favors, and we had to keep going. Uranai Baba moved us to another location for the next fight, and as soon as I saw it, I was suddenly very glad that I'd been eliminated so early. She called it the Devil's Toilet, and it was basically a couple of thin platforms high over deadly acid. Uranai Baba demonstrated the acid to us by dropping in a piece of meat and had a hearty chuckle at the horrified looks on our faces. I couldn't believe what a sick mind she had that she actually enjoyed people fighting in serious danger of losing their lives. That is just wrong. Once again, I have to give credit for Yamucha for having the courage to choose to continue after that.

Yamucha's next opponent was a mummy. Where did she GET these people? We were all really scared for Yamucha, because those platforms were really not very substantial at all, and we didn't want him to die. We got even more anxious when the mummy turned out to be a much better fighter than Yamucha, and ran circles around him. Yamucha was knocked off and very nearly fell to his death, but he caught the ledge in time and pulled himself back up. He snarled and used his ultimate attack, the fist of the wolf-fang, on the mummy, but none of the hits even connected. The mummy actually knocked Yamucha down and started gloating at him. Things looked really bad, but suddenly Yamucha tripped his opponent off the side of the platform. We thought he'd won for sure, but the mummy used his wrapping to get back up. Yamucha promptly surrendered. I can't blame him - he didn't want to die. We breathed a sigh of relief when Yamucha came back to us. It was a trial just having to watch him out there, and being so afraid that he would fall...

Finally, Goku was up. Frankly, we should've just put him up in the first place. He ran right up to the platform, not nervous in the slightest. We got ready for a heated battle to start. Unexpectedly, though, the mummy struck first and hit Goku, beating him around all over the place. It looked like he had knocked Goku out cold. Goku jumped to his feet - he had been LETTING his opponent hit him. Even as a kid, Goku was amazing beyond belief. Oh, by the way, he proceeded to beat the mummy with one punch that looked half-pulled. Geez. The next thing that Goku had to fight looked like some kind of devil, and Goku outclassed him easily. However, despite how badly he was beaten, the guy had a strange look of confidence. Soon he exclaimed that he'd be using his ultimate move, a beam that expands one's "evil mind" within their consciousness and causes it to explode, killing them. We all panicked. This thing was going to kill Goku! Even Uranai Baba tried to stop him, but it was no use, he went ahead with it. We all stood suspended by terror as we awaited the inevitable.

Nothing happened. Nothing at all happened. Apparently Goku was so pure, there was no evil in him at all. I didn't know about that, but that sure reaffirmed my feeling that Goku was not normal at all. Goku defeated the devil-creature Akkuman with one unbelievable kick, and he was on to the last fighter. There was a big suspenseful moment as to who the ultimate fighter would be, just before the old man with the halo and the funny mask walked out. He requested that we go back out to the stadium so that he could fight Goku all-out. I couldn't believe my eyes - THIS guy was the best fighter? Still, I had learned by now not to be decieved by appearances, so I was wary of the guy.

As we walked out to the stadium for the last fight, I noticed something odd about Goku. His nose, which was as keen as a dog's, was twitching, and he seemed to be smiling a bit.

"That guy smells good," he said. "It's... a happy scent."

I had no clue what he was talking about at the time. I just thought that Goku was being weird again. Oddly, Muten Roshi also seemed to be regarding the strange-looking warrior unusually. I puzzled as to what there could possibly be to this guy that would make them do that.

The guy turned out to be really tough. He and Goku seemed to be about even, and they exchanged blows with great speed. The strange warrior grabbed Goku and threw him up high into the air, then jumped up and threw him back down, making a dent in the floor, but Goku was hardly fazed. He leapt back up and kicked him. Both recovered almost immediately. You know, it's interesting how amazing that match was and how I can still recall it as such even though we all passed up the power level they were fighting at in that battle ages ago. I guess it had a quality to it that was deeper than just going fast or hitting hard. The old guy really surprised us by using a Kamehameha on Goku. Goku dodged it by taking to the air, which his opponent said was a huge mistake because it left him open. However, Goku retorted with his own Kamehameha. His opponent seemed even more surprised than we were. Apparently, he didn't expect Goku to know that move. Pretty soon Goku had the guy pretty much finished, and he asked him to surrender. It wasn't over yet, though - the fighter got up and grabbed Goku's tail. Grabbing Goku's tail was, at the time, his major weakness, and it made him lose all his energy. That came as a huge surprise to everyone but Yamucha, who must have learned it at some point. After that, the guy threw Goku around like a rag doll. It looked painful. We were afraid that we might lose. None of us really expected what happened after that to happen - Goku's tail got ripped right off of his body. That must have hurt tremendously, and it got Goku so pissed off that his opponent wisely surrendered before things got nasty. He complimented Goku, and removed his mask, startling Goku. He revealed himself to be Son Gohan.

Suddenly I remembered the "grandpa Gohan" that Goku had affectionately referred to several times during our training, and who had also been a student of Muten Roshi. They had told me that he was dead. It turned out that he was - hence the halo. Uranai Baba had the ability to bring the dead back to earth for a day. Goku was enormously happy to see his grandpa again, and he cried and ran up to him and hugged him. It was a bit of a reality check. As powerful as Goku was, he still had emotions, and he was still just a kid. It was a very tender moment. Goku and Gohan did some catching up, and then Gohan had to return to the other world. Goku didn't seem sad, though - he seemed happier than ever. We were all silent and savored the moment as Goku's grandpa said good-bye to him forever and vanished. Then we told Uranai Baba that she'd better tell us our fortune, or we'd be really upset.

"All right," she said, hopping off of her crystal ball so that she could read it, "Let's see..."

--END OF CHAPTER 5--


	6. The Kame House

~Chapter 6: The Kame House~

After consulting for a moment, Uranai Baba showed us the location of the dragon ball - in a moving car about 200 kilometers away, which upset Bulma because being in a car didn't go with any of her theories on why the ball hadn't shown up on the radar. As usual, Goku didn't waste any time, and he sped off on Kinto'un to fetch the ball. It took him probably 20 minutes, during which those of us who remained mostly murmured to each other. We didn't have a lot to say - we were all afflicted with the numbness that seems to come for a little while just after Goku leaves, as if somehow all of the excitement in the world had just been focused on us, but was now taken away, leaving us out of the spotlight. It's a funny feeling.

I'm not sure exactly what Goku had to do to get the dragon balls, but I do remember that when Goku got back, not only did he have the dragon balls, but he was also wearing a completely different set of clothing. When I pointed this out he only smiled nervously. He only stuck around for about 30 seconds, long enough to mention that he'd gotten the ball, grab Upa, and speed off to Karin Tower to summon Shenlon. I was kind of dissapointed that I didn't get to see Shenlon then. Actually, I wouldn't get to see Shenlon for a very long time. As fate would have it, whenever anyone was summoning the dragon I was always either dead or somewhere else. Come to think of it, I saw Porunga before I saw Shenlon. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. After Goku left again, we all speculated about the time he must have had getting that ball, and about how strong he'd become. Right around then, the fortune teller casually let one of her predictions drop.

"That boy is amazing," she said. "One day he'll save the world."

We glared at her for a second, and I looked off in the direction that Goku had gone and smiled. It didn't seem so hard to believe.

Yamucha took the opportunity to appeal to Muten Roshi to become his student. That went well - Roshi told him that he had seen him fight, and that he had enormous potential. He made him promise that he would take his training seriously and never shirk, and when Yamucha agreed, Muten Roshi accepted him as a student. That made him and Pu'ar very happy, and it made me happy too. It meant more company around the Kame house, and Yamucha seemed like a pretty agreeable person to have around.

As we stood there celebrating that, suddenly the sky became completely dark. It was darker even than night, for there were no stars showing. I started panicking, but Yamucha put his hand on my shoulder and smiled confidently. "It's Shenlon," he said, "Goku's summoned the dragon." I was awed. I wished that I could have been with him to see it.

I thought I saw something bright streak over our heads, and then the sky got bright again. Soon, Goku was back. Goku smiled and said excitedly that Upa's father had come back to life, and that Upa had been really happy. It was a really happy moment for everyone - that kid had looked really forlorn, and it was awfully nice of Goku to do that for him. We really gave him a hero's welcome, but he said that he had to pee really bad and ran over to go off of the side of the arena. Oi. This was the world's savior? It was hard to take Goku seriously in those days.

It seemed just then that it was the end of our adventure, and it had felt like a pretty big one. It's funny that looking back on that action-packed week after the 21st Budôkai now. Somehow, that time seems very easy and carefree to me now, in total contrast to how it felt at the time. I guess I'm just jaded. Anyway, I pondered aloud what we'd all be doing next. Goku proudly declared that he'd start training for the next tournament, and everyone else expressed something similar. I tried not to show it then because I didn't want to dampen the good mood everyone was in, but my heart sank a bit. Was I the only one who was troubled by the fact that we were just going to go back to training? The Tenka'ichi Budôkai was important to me too, but it was three years off. Would we really spend that whole time training? Somehow, it made me feel a bit empty. Back at the temple, I used to imagine how life would be on the outside, and I'd always thought that there was more to it. I couldn't believe that life was just what happened between martial arts matches. I didn't say anything, of course - this was only a vague feeling at that moment, and it wasn't until later that I really got to thinking about it. Besides, everyone else seemed so excited, and surely everyone else knew better than me.

Vague ponderings aside, I was pretty happy at the thought of all of us going back to the Kame House again. Goku said that he'd be happy to come back and train with us, and he probably would have, but Muten Roshi stepped in. He told Goku that if he really wanted to be stronger, he should go out, have experiences, and expand his horizons - that was the way to become better. Roshi impressed us with a pretty big poetic speech about it, classic stuff. Of course, it was completely lost on little Goku. I couldn't help but laugh as the old master fumed at the uncomprehending kid. Goku's heart was pure, but back in those earliest days there weren't too many lights on upstairs. So, Goku agreed and decided to go off and find his own adventures. Muten Roshi said that we'd meet again at the 22nd Tenka'ichi Budôkai in three years. Everyone accepted this camly and with excitement - well, everyone except me, that is. Again, I found myself wondering whether I was the only sane person in the world, or if there was something going on that I just hadn't gotten the memo about. Three years may not have seemed too long to Muten Roshi, but to me it sounded like an eternity. I would miss Goku.

(Incidentally, it occurs to me that right about then would have been a good time to for Goku, Yamucha and I to go around the world and make sure that all of the Red Ribbon's operations were really shut down. Who knows, maybe we could've stopped that sick piece of trash Dr. Gero early on, saving the whole world a load of trouble in the long run. Oh well, I don't have any regrets. After all, if we'd done that then, I'd still be single. I'm getting ahead of myself again. Sorry.)

Roshi told Goku that he'd have to go without the Kinto'un to enhance his training, which was pretty shocking to us - what was he going to do, run everywhere? - but Goku just shrugged and ran off on foot. I can only imagine the sort of adventures Goku must have gotten into over those three years. Knowing Goku, they'd probably make an exciting story. I could have set off on an adventure myself, but I'm just not made from the same stuff as Goku. I'd had enough adventures, thanks. I wanted to go home, and home we went. Bulma and Pu'ar went back to Capsule Corp HQ, and the old master and I took Yamucha back to the Kame house with us(It disturbed me a bit that Bulma, who was supposed to be Yamucha's girlfriend, would so easily let him go. Muten Roshi offered to let her stay at the Kame house, of course, but I think we can all guess what his motive for THAT was).

Lunch was waiting for us again at the Kame House. She was in her cute and harmless form when we got there, but she sneezed within the first couple of minutes, which was a bit of a shock for Yamucha, who'd seen her in both forms but had never actually had the transformation explained to him by anybody. Muten Roshi told Yamucha that his first training excercise was to make her calm down, and we went and hid behind a rock. Poor Yamucha, it was a few days before he was well enough to start training.

I had a bit of a sense of deja vu as we packed up the Kame House and moved back to the large island where I'd trained before. Yamucha had to go through exactly the same thing that Goku and I had. For the first day, I went ahead of him to demonstrate what to do. All of the excercises were pretty old hat to me, so I pretty much breezed through them and enjoyed the horrified looks on Yamucha's face - he couldn't believe that ANYONE could do what I was doing. I expected to have a lot of fun watching him struggle through the training, but he surprised me. Yamucha was very determined. Although the training was very hard for him at first, he took it better than Goku or I had. He rarely complained after the first day, and when Muten Roshi presented him with the turtle shell, he only swallowed hard and put it on. Yamucha earned my respect pretty quickly - there was more to that guy than I'd thought.

Of course, when he wasn't training, Yamucha wasn't so serious. He was a clever and healthily cynical guy, and he and I became fast friends. He and I could just sit back and seperate ourselves from the world, and speak of how crazy everyone else was, and how little things that other people did never made any sense. It was all right. Yamucha and I are still just as good of friends today.

One of those days, Yamucha told me about his early adventures with Goku, that all happened pretty much when I was trying to make my way to Muten Roshi's to train. It was all pretty funny. He told me about a rabbit that turned people into carrots, and a weird guy with delusions of world domination named Pilaf. I also got a good portion of Yamucha's life story, a really fascinating tale. You ought to ask him sometime if he'll tell it to you.

Yamucha finished the training that had taken Goku and I nearly eight months in only three months. I was impressed. Muten Roshi admitted to Yamucha that he'd taught him all that he really could, and he was as shocked as we'd been. Roshi told him that it was now up to him to further his own training, and sort of angrily added that the same went for me. I was a bit embarrassed - I had spent most of the time Yamucha had been training slacking off. There are a lot of things we could have done to further our training then, but Yamucha and I no longer had the initiative to do much more than stick around and spar with each other. That's okay, though, that went pretty well. We got quite a bit more powerful that way. At first Yamucha was far weaker than me, but he caught up fairly quickly. I taught him how to leave after-images, and he showed me the fist of the wolf-fang, which I didn't have that much use for, but I did use the basic technique behind it to increase my speed quite a lot. The sparring was fun and good for us, and it was enough to let us say that we'd spent our time training.

Hey, I've gone on about Yamucha for a while. I did more during that time than get to know him. I didn't have much to do while Yamucha was undergoing that first training regimen, so I helped Lunch with the housework. She taught me how to cook several things as well. In fact, it got to the point where I was the cook as often as she was. It seemed like just something to pass the time then, but I started down a path then that would eventually lead me to become what I am now, which is basically a housewife. Hey, I have no complaints. As for Lunch herself, she kept transforming, but we finally started to get used to it. She stopped freaking out quite so much when she changed, and the event of her transformation was reduced from a disaster to merely something that set us on edge. She'd stay transformed for days at a time, and "Kushami"(her alternate personality) became another one of the gang, and not an entirely undesirable one. She did keep us on our toes, after all.

Muten Roshi, as much as I respected him, was still as embarrassing as ever, and seemed to resent not being a hermit anymore. So, I started taking longer than I really needed to on those trips to the market for groceries. Eventually it got to the point where that wasn't really the main point of my going out anymore. I went out to the city a lot, and sometimes Yamucha came with me. There was a lot to do out there for a kid like me to keep occupied with. However, I often had a hard time of it out there. I caught a lot of stares and bullying from people, and I knew that it was because of my height. Yamucha would always stick up for me, but even that was a bit annoying, as I rarely got the chance to demonstrate that I could take care of myself perfectly well. I have to admit that I was very, very short. Yes, I'm aware that I am still short, but at least now I'm in the normal human range of height, even if I am at the bottom of it. Back then, I was just a freak, and my short height gave me all kinds of problems. I kept hoping that I'd get taller - after all, I was a teenager - but it never seemed to happen. I did grow an inch or two, but not enough to make any real difference.

After the first year, Pu'ar came to live with us. Yamucha had gone to visit Bulma, and Pu'ar came back with him. I guess that she couldn't bear to be away from him any longer. I've never known quite what's going on between Pu'ar and Yamucha. For decades they were practically inseperable, and Pu'ar was fond of calling Yamucha "Yamucha-sama" and other titles of respect. Pu'ar has always looked very cute hovering around Yamucha, and he seems happier when she's around, so I never questioned it. I guess they're just close friends. You know, Pu'ar is a lot more intelligent and brave than people give her credit for. She was nice to have around.

I could talk a lot more about those years, but the gist of it is that we were just passing time. Time dutifully did just that, and it was time for the Tenka'ichi Budôkai practically before we knew it. The night before we left for the tournament, Yamucha and I decided to have one more good spar. We went out late, able to see each other only in the moonlight. The seabreeze chilled us as we took our stances, and we smiled. We knew that we'd become a lot stronger, and we were excited about the tournament.

"Well?" I smirked at Yamucha.

He smirked back. "Please, you first."

I came at him like a rocket, and he countered similarly. We must have exchanged a couple hundred blows and blocked them all, pretty standard fare for the battles later on, but a first for us. It was harder for him to guard against me because I was so much shorter, so I got in a good hit and knocked him back. He came at me again and I danced circles around him. He struck at air a lot.

"No, Yamucha," I shouted, laughing, "You're supposed to hit ME!"

He snarled. "Roga-fuu-fuu-ken!"

Damn, that fist of the wolf fang always was a bit of a surprise. He beat me around a bit, and I kicked him in the stomach hard. We both landed on the ground and slowly got back to a sitting position.

"Well," I said, "Maybe we ought to save some for the tournament."

We went to bed that night feeling happy and excited. We were going to have a great tournament, and we'd get to see Goku again. Maybe one of us would even be able to win. We were looking forward to having a good time. Why can't things ever be that simple?

--END OF CHAPTER SIX--


	7. The 22nd Tenka'ichi Budôkai

~Chapter 7: The 22nd Tenka'ichi Budôkai~

The next day, we met with Bulma and Oolong at the airport and set off toward the Budôkai arena. Lunch came with us that time, she wanted to see the tournament, and besides, Kushami didn't give us much of a choice. The plane ride seemed longer than it really was because we were so excited that we thought we might burst. I felt pretty confident about my chances at the tournament. I was sure that I could beat Yamucha if I had to, and I assumed I'd passed up that "Jackie Chun" guy by then, so the only person I was worried about was Goku. Actually, that was another reason for us to be excited - we were going to get to see Goku again. I wondered if Goku even remembered the tournament. We hadn't heard from him in a dog's age.

After arriving and being held up rather embarrassingly by Muten Roshi's rather active bladder, we went to the arena and Yamucha and I signed up. Since "Jackie Chun" was there too, I assume that Muten Roshi signed up when we weren't looking. Although I didn't look much different than I had at the last tournament, I didn't get any bewildered stares that time, at least not from the monk taking the sign-ups. Yamucha and I were very recognized from the previous tournament.

After signing up, our group was accosted by a strange old man. Like Muten Roshi, the old man wore sunglasses and seemed to be running a matial arts school. He recognized Roshi and they seemed to have known each other for a very long time. It was clear immediately that there was little love lost between Muten Roshi and "The Crane Master". They confronted each other, and Yamucha and I stood on either side of Muten Roshi. The crane master was flanked by his students Tenshinhan and Chaozu, who, oddly enough, were respectively about as tall and short as Yamucha and I, which turned the whole scene into a bizarre mirror image. (Tenshinhan also had three eyes, but there were a lot of weird looking people there, myself included.) The two old masters had a deep rivalry, and as his students, Yamucha and I were pulled into it. I immediately found myself disliking the Crane Master and his students. They were really arrogant, and they called us worthless trash. The way that he and Roshi were trash-talking each other, I thought that at any moment they'd just start beating each other up, but they managed to seperate before that happened. Tense.

As we continued to stand around and scan the crowd, we started to get worried about Goku. The deadline for signing up was approaching. We were even going to have Pu'ar take his shape and sign up as him, but when we saw a small boy in a leopard-skin loincloth running toward us and making a big commotion, we knew immediately that Goku had arrived. He gave us an excited greeting, and we learned that he'd swam from halfway around the world to get to the tournament, which was utterly insane - typical Goku. His tail had grown back, and he'd gotten somewhat taller. Although he was still short, he was to the point where he could confidently call me "shorty", which pissed me off a little. Now everyone was taller than me. I got over it, though.

I had a really great feeling going into the 22nd Budôkai Tournament. I feel like a kid again just thinking about it. It felt really great to be competing with my two best friends, Yamucha and Goku. The three of us chattered constantly when we weren't fighting, mostly about what we'd been doing all this time. A lot of the conversation was pretty inconsequential. Really, I think that the point of it was more about who we were talking to than what we were saying. I felt really lucky to have such good friends. I felt excited about the tournament, too. There were going to be a lot of strong people there, but I still felt like I had a chance. I wondered idly if Goku had gotten much stronger. He still looked the same.

I felt an odd sense of deja vu as we came back into the area where the qualifiers were held. It was just like the last time - the crowd of entrants consisted of big and imposing people that made me nervous, and the tournament itself seemed to have an untouchable enormity. One thing was different from last time, though - I was easily one of the strongest people there, and this time, I knew it. That colored my perception of the events a bit. The qualifiers were pretty easy, as usual. Yamucha humiliated his first opponent, and then I was paired up against a giant again. That seems to happen a lot. You know, I'm somewhat famous among followers of the Tenka'ichi Budôkai for easily dispatching people twenty times my size. It's always the same deal - I try to be polite, my opponent laughs and loudly boasts that it's "too easy" and that I'm "nothing", then I sigh, whip them good, and enjoy the gaping stares of disbelief from the crowd. Ahh, my public.

We had another unpleasant run-in with the arrogant Tenshinhan, and Yamucha started getting nasty and throwing profanities at him. We thought that Tenshinhan was all talk, but when we saw the utter ease with which he defeated his opponent, we had to think again. Tenshinhan was definitely in the winning class of fighters. I've always felt kind of sorry for the other participants in the Budôkai. They are masters of their disciplines, all, but they really just have no chance of winning. It's always the same, there's a group of people who can really compete. For the 22nd Budôkai, that group consisted of Tenshinhan and Chaozu plus me and my friends, not to mention "Jackie Chun", who we ran into shortly after Tenshinhan's match. Well, okay, maybe that isn't entirely true. Goku's first opponent was really good, so good that he might have even gave Yamucha or I a run for our money, but he was nothing to Goku. I started to worry about my chances.

We all made it to the big show. None of us got paired together in the qualifiers, which is a bit too much of a coincidence if you ask me. Someone was probably rigging the brackets, most likely Tenshinhan and Chaozu. The finalists were Goku, Yamucha, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, *cough cough* "Jackie Chun", Wereman, who was actually the opposite of a werewolf(bizarre...), Pamputt, who was just an "other" who was lucky enough to make it in, and of course, me. That same cool announcer guy had us draw lots for matchups, but that was probably rigged too.

After all of the pomp and fanfare, Yamucha had the first match against Tenshinhan. As always, the finalists had the best view available if they wanted it. The crowd roared as they stepped out into the arena, and they had good reason. Yamucha and Tenshinhan were serious fighters, and they had the look and feel of it. The bit of grudge and rivalry that sparked between them and the deeper rivalry between their respective schools weren't lost on the crowd, and served to make it all the more exciting. I smiled confidently, convinced that Yamucha would give that arrogant jerk what was coming to him. Goku seemed doubtful. I bet he already knew how to sense ki then.

That battle was quick and intense. They exchanged flurries of blows, they danced around each other, they took to the sky. The crowd fell silent at the display of ferocity, but it only made me more excited. This was what fighting was SUPPOSED to be. Yamucha used the fist of the wolf fang on Tenshinhan, and he countered it effectively. In fact, he soon began to get the upper hand, and I felt bad for Yamucha - it looked like he'd lost for sure. I didn't know what he had up his sleeve. He smiled confidently and took an odd stance. It took me a second, but I recognized it just before I heard him say, "Kame... Hame..." Man, was I shocked. I guess that while I was out bumming around town and in learning to keep house, Yamucha had been taking his training more seriously than I'd thought. Sure enough, a potent burst of energy issued from Yamucha's outstretched hands. It was a pretty good one. It didn't shock me as much as what Tenshinhan did, though - he blocked it. Not only did he block it, but somehow he managed to throw it BACK at Yamucha. Whoof. I felt that old sick feeling from the last tournament returning. The match was just brutal after that. He beat Yamucha up badly, and after he'd already won, he snapped the poor guy's leg just for kicks. It was horrible. I could actually see Yamucha's leg twisted completely around. I really hated Tenshinhan right then. Before, it had just been a rivalry, but this guy was clearly up to no good. It was no longer a matter of pride or sportsmanship for Goku and I to defeat him, it was duty. He was abusing his power, and as Muten Roshi had told us, it was our duty to crush him with a mighty blow.

The next match was a relief. It was about as far from serious as you can get. "Jackie Chun" fought the wereman, if you could call it a fight. He seemed to have a grudge against Chun for destroying the moon in the previous tournament, and he wanted to get even. The old master didn't even have to try; he spent most of the match facing backwards. To be honest, I spent most of that match watching Tenshinhan, not the fighting. He and Chaozu were floating, and I'd never seen anyone do that before. The first thing I thought was, "Man, I have GOT to learn how to do that." Meanwhile, Chun humiliated his opponent by making him do tricks like a dog. He even won by having him fetch a bone that he threw out of the ring. The audience roared with laughter. It was pretty funny, but what caught my attention was that Chun said that he'd help the guy transform into a human. I didn't understand. Without the moon, how could he? I was more confused than ever when Jackie Chun asked me to step into the ring and help him out. I got it once he had the wereman look at the back of my head, though - he was going to hypnotize him into believing that my head was the full moon. Ooooh, that was humiliating. Chun was saying ridiculous things like "It's the moon.... it's round..." and the audience thought that the whole thing was too much, especially when it actually worked and the wolf-guy turned into a human. The announcer started calling me "Full Moon" Kuririn. Urgh. It wasn't funny, darn it. At the Orinji temple, a properly shined head was a matter of great pride. Of course, it would be years before I admitted to myself that, hey, it WAS funny. I must have looked patently ridiculous for all those years. Oh well.

My match was against Chaozu. The audience probably didn't think that it was going to be a very serious match after my episode with standing in for the moon. Besides, Chaozu looked kind of bizarre all made up like a doll. There's something weird about that guy. I've never seen him otherwise. Fighting Chaozu was just odd. I've never fought or even seen anyone fight before or since with such a style. He zipped around like a statue, barely even moving his limbs. I was more powerful than Chaozu in that match, but he still managed to scare the hell out of me. He caught me off-guard at first, but after I got my bearings I hit him pretty good and came after him with a rapid succession of blows. It was clear that he was having a hard time blocking, and he couldn't really compete with me on my level, so he didn't really try. Instead, he flew to the sky where he knew that I couldn't follow. I was really in a bind then - while I could jump high enough to reach him, he'd then have lots of mobility and I'd have none, which was like asking to be knocked out of the ring. While I was trying to figure out what to do, Chaozu threw another surprise at me. He smiled at me and said, "Now it's my turn. Dodonpa!"

Suddenly, a ki blast less than an inch in diameter shot out of his finger and came at me with unbelievable speed. I barely had the time to dodge it. I'd never seen a Dodonpa before! It was so unfair! The attack was both quicker and more powerful than the Kamehameha. I barely had time to react to that before Chaozu launched about a dozen more of them at me. I started to despair. Chaozu could do all of this fancy stuff like flying and the Dodonpa, and what did I have? Nothing. I started thinking, if only I could at least do the Kamehameha.... It was like a light switch had been turned on in my mind. The Kamehameha! Sure, why not? Hell, I figured that if Yamucha could do it, than I could. I took the position that I'd seen before so many times, one hand out, the other extended palm up, concentrated my ki into my hands, mumbled out a quick "Kamehameha" and extended my hands outward. Peuf. Sure enough, I got one. It was a tiny, inconsequential little flare, but it was a Kamehameha.

While I was doing that, I guess that Tenshinhan must have found out that Goku had killed The Crane Master's brother Taopaipai and told his master, because I heard the Crane Master order Chaozu to kill me. Chaozu nodded and started charging up a much larger Dodonpa. I started building a Kamehameha myself - it was only my second ever, but it had to count. I heard Muten Roshi(Chun) yelling at me that I didn't have a chance and I had to get away, but I shut him out. I had a plan. It was a hasty, thrown-together plan, but you go with what you've got. When Chaozu launched the Dodonpa, I held the potential Kamehameha in a second longer and jumped over his attack, which created an utterly enormous explosion on the arena. (Well, it seemed utterly enormous then - it was about the size of four school buses. I hadn't had a whole lot of experience with explosions yet.) I pulled it off pretty well. I jumped so quickly that everyone thought I was caught in the blast, then I came up to Chaozu's level and released the Kamehameha. I hadn't had much practice, so even after all the charging it wasn't that great of a Kamehameha, but it did knock Chaozu out of the sky. He managed to stop himself from falling out of the ring, but even so, we were on my level again, and I pressed the attack. Chaozu had one last trick to pull, though. He stretched out his arms and suddenly I felt a tremendous pain in my stomach. It was so terrible that I had to double over and stop moving. I recognized the ability immediately - he was paralyzing me with telekinesis, just like General Blue. He probably could've just pushed me out then, but he kicked me around instead. As he did, though, I noticed something important: Chaozu's telekinesis was different from General Blue's in that he used his hands, not his eyes. Somehow, I had to disable his hands, but it seemed pretty impossible when I couldn't even move. And yet Chaozu didn't seem all that smart, and he was gullible...

"Chaozu!" I shouted. "What's three plus four?" Can you believe it? It worked. He started counting on his fingers, and I was released. He got control again, but it just took another math problem to make him lose his concentration and I pushed him out of the ring. Go me, huh? Actually, I thought that that victory was pretty cool because Chaozu threw everything in the book at me. Plus, I made a Kamehameha on my first try. Not too bad.

The next match was really short, and it only served to show how much stronger we were than even the strongest "normal" people. Goku beat Pamputt really easily. Then it was Tenshinhan versus Jackie Chun. I still didn't know that Jackie Chun was really Muten Roshi, but I considered him to be our friend, and I knew that he was really strong. I was looking forward to watching him teach that arrogant jerk Tenshinhan a lesson, but Goku wasn't so sure.

Ah, I hate to interrupt the flow of things, but I'd really hate to offend anyone, so I think that this might be as good of a place as anywhere to say this - I don't really mean all of the things I'm saying. Let me explain. Tenshinhan, although I haven't seen him in years, is a brave man for whom I've come to have a lot of respect. I only thought that he was an arrogant jerk at the time. I've been afraid that this volume would be nothing but boring reminiscence, so I'm constantly striving to put myself back into the mindset in which I was while the events were happening. Not only is this a huge catharsis for me, but I also like to think that it keeps the reminiscing to a minimum and makes for a more exciting read. I've changed a lot over the years, and I'm not the sort to hold grudges, so if you're anyone involved, you should try to remember that unless I say otherwise, I might not feel some of the things I'm saying here anymore about hating certain people. Okay. That was really awkward, but I'm glad to have it out of the way. Thanks.

Back on the point, the battle went all-out quickly. Tenshinhan was very powerful, but Muten Roshi's greater experience served him well, and it was one hell of a battle. Roshi tried the after-image pattern technique, but Tenshinhan saw through it with his three eyes. Tenshinhan moved his hands very quickly, which would have thrown me off, but somehow Muten Roshi stood calmly and grabbed his hands as if out of thin air, immobilizing them and taking the opportunity to give Tenshinhan a powerful kick. I was excited to see Jackie Chun doing so well, but there was a solemn expression frozen on Goku's face, as if he knew something I didn't. I imagine that he was probably either sensing Tenshinhan's ki and finding it to be exceptionally powerful, or he was worried about the evil intentions of the Crane Master. Either way, I was oblivious. The battle was pretty even after that until Tenshinhan used the Taiyoken. The Taiyoken, or "the fist of the sun", is a simple but brilliant move that uses ki concentration similar to that used in blast attacks for a different purpose. It causes a great flash of light to radiate quickly from the user's aura, blinding everyone in the area for a considerable amount of time. That simple little move has pulled us from the brink more times than I'd care to count. It blinded most of us at the arena, and I didn't see Tenshinhan hit Jackie Chun, but I heard the ten count. By the time I could see again, the old master had already struggled back to his feet. Rather than start fighting again immediately, Muten Roshi talked to Tenshinhan for a bit. I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying, but it was something about not being evil and leaving his master. He must have really hit a nerve, because Tenshinhan got really pissed off and attacked him again. Then he used a Kamehameha, which just killed me. He must have learned it just by watching Yamucha do it once. His was better than mine, too. What was really shocking, though, was that he aimed it at the crowd! If Muten Roshi-sama hadn't deflected it, it might have killed somebody. It was scary. We tensed up, wondering what would happen next. We couldn't have anticipated that Jackie Chun would simply leap off of the side of the arena, saying, "My turn is over." He didn't seem dejected over losing at all. In fact, I think he whistled as he left the arena. That was the last time we ever saw "Jackie Chun".

It was Goku versus me after that. Sigh... Goku and I had never really fought before, and I wasn't looking forward to it. Goku was excited, he said that he'd always wanted to see how good I was. I think I might have begun to turn a pale shade of green. I gathered myself and I told him that I wanted him to fight me as hard as he could. He told me not to worry. We went into that battle with a nice mutual respect for each other, even though I was obviously far the weaker of us two. I probably could've had a lot of fun in that battle, trying my skills on my best friend, except that I made a foolish, prideful mistake as I stepped out onto the arena.

"I've got to win this," I told myself. "I've got to beat Goku." I meant it. I would stop at nothing to win. The fight started, and I put everything I had into attacking Goku. I recalled everything that I'd learned in my training at the Orinji temple, during my training with Muten Roshi, and in my sparring with Yamucha. I focused my ki and I flew at him, throwing a specifically controlled storm of blows. I had to be strong. I had to be tough. I had to be fast. I had to win. Boy, was I deluding myself. I couldn't hit him, and he hit me immediately when he attacked me, but I wouldn't get the idea out of my head. I recovered, and I defended against Goku's next volley. We took a little break then, and it was already looking hopeless for me. I wouldn't give up, though. I had a lot of tricks left, and I'd use every last one if that's what it took. I took a stance that put all of my weight onto one leg and put all of my strength into that leg, causing me to launch at Goku with tremendous speed. I learned that bit from Yamucha. It's actually a part of the fist of the wolf fang, which is a very complex and involved technique. In that way, I finally managed to hit Goku, and I pressed that for all it was worth. I followed up with a kick and dove after him, and he jumped high to avoid. I think I shouted something like "I'm gonna kick your ass" and he replied with something like "You wish". To be young again, eh?

I jumped after Goku and blinded him temporarily by reflecting the sun off of my head, and I thought I had him when I spiked him back to the ground, but he recovered. Goku told me that I was doing great and that he was having a lot of fun. He was very calm. I felt like I didn't have much left in me. Goku used a special attack on me that used the Kamehameha to build up momentum for an attack. That hurt like hell, and I barely got up. I tried attacking Goku, but he was clearly getting tired of the match and dodged and struck back as easily as he probably could have all along. After that I began to lose hope for winning. Of course, I was never in that match and Goku wasn't even really going full on. Still, I had fun despite how serious I tried to be going in. I hadn't quite given up yet at that point, though. I had one last idea, and I pinned everything on it. I started to build a Kamehameha. Goku seemed to think that that was almost funny, and he told me to go ahead and see how much good it did me. Of course, he blocked the Kamehameha without flinching, but I only launched it to distract him. While he was busy impressing everyone by taking the Kamehameha like it was nothing, I circled around and grabbed his tail, which I remembered was his weakness. I squeezed it and I felt a surge of triumph as Goku wavered and fell to the mat with a splat. He was only messing with me, though - he'd trained his tail to protect against that, and on the "9" count, he got up and threw me around with his tail. That was really frustrating. That was when I gave up. I don't want to talk about the rest of the match, it's making me depressed. He beat me, let's just leave it there.

The final with Goku and Tenshinhan was really something. After the way he'd treated us, we couldn't let Tenshinhan win. He had to pay. I told Goku that he'd better kick his butt. Before the fight started, Muten Roshi came dressed as himself and stood with me to get a better view. I told him kind of nervously that spectators weren't supposed to be back where we were, but he told me to just hush and watch the fight. Goku started the match fighting at the same level that he'd been fighting at when he fought against me, and Tenshinhan ran him into the ground. I couldn't believe how brutal he was. Tenshinhan hit like a machine gun, and it was just sickening watching him beat Goku up that way. I was just astonished - this couldn't be right. Goku was supposed to be stronger than him, he was supposed to teach him a lesson. I couldn't stomach the thought of Tenshinhan getting away with what he'd done and winning. He sure seemed to be winning as he threw Goku up into the air and spiked him downward so hard that everyone in the audience thought that he'd killed him. I knew Goku was made of tougher stuff then that, though. I was more relieved than shocked when Goku got right back up. "You're pretty good," he said, smiling, "I guess I'll have to get tough with you." Oh man, Tenshinhan was livid. I cheered. That was more like it. Goku had the match well in hand after that. Tenshinhan was a bit stronger, I think, but Goku was much tougher and faster. Goku evaded Tenshinhan's attacks with amazing speed and made ingenious use of the after-image pattern technique, making multliple images in midair until not even Tenshinhan could tell which one was him. Even when Tenshinhan tried the Taiyoken, it didn't work on Goku, who quickly borrowed Muten Roshi's sunglasses to protect his eyes. Come to think of it, that was the first time I actually saw Muten Roshi without his glasses. His eyes seemed oddly familiar from somewhere, but I couldn't place it.

I felt confident as Goku and Tenshinhan started fighting again, because I could tell that if things kept going like they were then he had it in the bag. When they charged at each other again, though, Goku seemed to halt suddenly in midair and he took a punch head-on from Tenshinhan. I knew right away that something was very wrong. Even I could've blocked Tenshinhan's punch, so why didn't Goku? Both Goku and Muten Roshi looked angry and seemed to know what was going on as the same thing happened again and again. I was really confused, but then I saw Chaozu in the audience holding his hand steady and the Crane Master grinning like a baboon. Chaozu was using his telekinetic powers to immobilize Goku, which was totally against the rules of the tournament, but the officials couldn't tell. It was unfair, but there was nothing I could do but watch helplessly as Tenshinhan knocked Goku down and the ten-count went by while an unseen force prevented Goku from standing. What a disgrace the tournament would be when it was won like that! Then Tenshinhan surprised me. It may have been that Muten Roshi's speeches got to him, but I think it was more that Tenshinhan wasn't really evil, and his inner sense of right wouldn't let him take that path any further. "Stop!" He shouted with such force that Chaozu immediately let up, letting Goku stand again. It was then that we saw how evil the Crane Master really was. He jumped to his feet in the stand and ordered Tenshinhan to kill Goku. I was suprised and thrilled to see Tenshinhan deliberately defy his master. Although he'd claimed to have the ambition of following in the footsteps of Taopaipai, the world's greatest assassin, Tenshinhan was no killer. Outraged, the Crane Master ordered Chaozu to freeze Tenshinhan and Goku so that he could kill them both, but even Chaozu had turned against his evil master. The old man lost it then and started trying to strangle Chaozu to death. No one had time to do anything before Muten Roshi shoved me aside and let loose an enormous Kamehameha that hit the Crane Master and carried him far away from the arena. It all happened very fast. After that, no one knew what to do or think. For a good fifteen seconds, everyone in the stadium stood frozen, until Muten Roshi shouted, "Well, on with the fight!" Slowly, as if coming out of a trance, Tenshinhan and Goku got back into their fighting stances, and everyone else followed suit. Personally, I was still a little confused.

The battle was a lot better without the tension of rivalry or the threat of evil. Tenshinhan knew he couldn't beat Goku fighting normally, so he started using weird techniques. The first thing that he did was sprout two extra arms. I have no idea what kind of technique that is or how it works. I understand how ki blasts work, but things like that four-arm move of Tenshinhan's just confuse me. That move was so shocking that it even caught Goku off-guard, but after a little while he just started moving more quickly to compensate for Tenshinhan's advantage, so Tenshinhan dropped the extra arms and went ahead to his desperation move. When Chaozu and Muten Roshi figured out what he was going to do, they suddenly started shouting at him and begging him not to do it. Tenshinhan even told Goku to dodge the attack because he didn't want to kill him. I had no idea what was going on, but I was getting really nervous - what kind of attack could be so dangerous that he would warn Goku to dodge it like that? Even worse, Goku seemed to stubborn to move out of the way, so I was worried that it just might actually kill him. That would not have made for a pleasant end to the tournament. The Kikouhou is a ridiculously large blast that is actually launched from one's hands, but it is so enormous that it appears to come from the entire aura. Although it's very powerful, I've never used it; I'd never want to use it, either, for the Kikouhou drains the user's life force. If it's used when weak, or more than once, or improperly, or if you put too much energy into it, it can use all of your energy and kill you. Later on, Tenshinhan seemed to have an affinity for using that attack several times in a row, which I'll never understand. When he used it then, it destroyed the entire ring. The Tenka'ichi Budôkai ring is very large, both to accomodate more seating and to allow for more movement in the battle without a ring out, but Tenshinhan's blast left a deep, gaping hole where it used to be. There were several painful seconds when I thought that he'd slain Goku. It felt like my heart had been tied in a knot. He was okay, though - he'd leapt high into the air to avoid the attack. At that point, since there was no more ring, whoever touched the ground first was the loser. Tenshinhan seemed the clear winner because he could fly, but Goku used his Kamehameha-momentum technique to knock Tenshinhan unconscious so that he couldn't fly. I didn't see what happened after that, but according to the announcer, Goku deflected off of something and hit the ground first, making Tenshinhan the winner. Phew. It doesn't get much closer than that. It isn't often that a crowd is silent in astonishment after the end of a tournament. It seemed appropriate then. I'll bet that no one in that audience forgot that tournament very quickly. Unfortunately, what I have so much trouble forgetting is what happened immediately afterward: my own death.

--END OF CHAPTER SEVEN--


	8. Life After Death

~Chapter 8: Life After Death~

After the tournament, Tenshinhan was totally humble and apologetic. He said that he didn't deserve to be the champion. He even offered Goku the prize money, but he wouldn't take it. Tenshinhan also apologized to Yamucha for injuring him, but Yamucha shrugged it off - he said that he was alive, and that's what's important. How true that was. We were all in a pretty good mood. Tenshinhan said that he'd treat us all to dinner, and I chuckled at that - he didn't know what he was getting into. I was happy, and why not? I had no clue what was in store for me. In my mind, the adventure with the Red Ribbon army was probably the most exciting thing that would ever happen to us, and I could have fun and be normal for the rest of my life. We'd all go home and do some serious catching up. What difference would it make if I spent a minute or two retrieving Goku's stuff from his locker for him? What really gets me is that I volunteered. "Relax, Goku," I said, "I'll get it for you." It was just around the corner.

When I got there, the announcer guy was there. He was glad to see me. He told me that we'd made for one hell of a tournament, just like last time. I smiled and told him to expect us to do it again in three years. I liked that guy. I got Goku's stuff and casually started to ask the announcer just what his name was, anyway, when I saw the horrified look on his face. Bewildered, I turned around.

Something green and winged and very very large grinned back at me. I'll never forget that terrifying face. I screamed. I was dead before I finished screaming. I didn't have the time to dodge, or block, or anything. I felt something on my neck, and it hurt like hell for maybe a split second, but then it stopped.

Dying doesn't hurt. Well, let me reprhase that - dying doesn't cause pain in the traditional sense. What you do feel is far, far worse than pain. It feels almost like your soul is being torn away from your body, or sucked out. All of your senses warp rapidly and shut down. Everything becomes dark and then light. You hear a dull hum, then a loud buzzing, and then nothing. There's a very distinctly odd sensation of no sensation at all. For a moment you feel like scrambling, desperately trying to get back, then almost immediately you feel as if it isn't worth it anymore. It's undescribably terrible. It just- well, it's like... Dying sucks. That's all that needs to be said.

I don't remember anything at all about being dead. Well, almost nothing. I do recall having a sense of drifting. It felt like I was drifting a very long way... it's vague, though. It's very vague, and barely even worth mentioning.

A while later, the feeling of drifting stopped - I distinctly recall feeling as if i'd been moving and stopped. I'd felt weightless, but suddenly I felt very heavy, tired, and sick. I opened my eyes slowly and found myself staring up at the smiling face of Bulma. "He's alive! He's alive!" she shouted. Yamucha and Lunch were there too, also celebrating. I sat up - a tremendous effort. I was in some sort of preservation capsule. Nearby, Chaozu and Muten Roshi sat up in similar capsules. I had no idea what it all meant.

"Hey... what happened?" I said.

"Oh, you were dead, but we revived you with the dragon balls!" said Bulma. It seemed almost an afterthought to her. I was bewildered. Dead?

"What happened?" I heard Muten Roshi say. Yamucha excitedly shouted that Goku had killed The Great Demon Piccolo and saved the Earth. That just made me even more confused. Who did Goku kill? Who was Piccolo? Why did killing him save the Earth?

iDead?/i

I desperately tried to sort things out in my mind. I was... no, I had been... dead? iI had been dead?/i But that didn't make any sense. Death was supposed to be final. I'd known that the dragon balls were capable of reviving the dead, but I'd never imagined that I would live again after my death. I tried to remember dying. I recalled the creature - that was it? THAT was death? It all happened so quickly. Like any kid, I'd always thought of death as something far off. Who knew that life was so fragile? I stood up, and I found moving to be very difficult - all of my joints felt stiff. Then it occurred to me. "Oh, my God," I thought to myself, "This body... MY body... is a corpse." A corpse. They had put my soul back into the hollow shell that it had vacated. I felt such a wave of revulsion sweep over me that I was lucky I didn't vomit. Instead, I climbed out of my capsule.

The others continued to celebrate. When Roshi asked where Goku had gone, Yamucha said that Shenlon told them that Goku was training at the sanctuary. Muten Roshi said that Goku's trainer must be Kami-sama. That threw everyone for a loop, especially me. Goku being trained by Kami-sama? What did it all mean? Yamucha and Tenshinhan and Chaozu all got really excited and said that they'd start training even harder for the next Tenka'ichi Budôkai. Everyone laughed. Well, everyone except for me. I just gathered my courage and finally managed to weakly stammer,

"Someone, please.... please tell me what's going on. Please."

Everyone fell silent and stared at me. Slowly, agonizingly, they must have come to the realization that I didn't know about everything that had happened. Everyone calmed down and we went inside. They must have seen how shaken up I was, too, because they gave me a blanket and Lunch made me some tea. They all told me the story of Piccolo Daimao, which I'm pretty sure that I don't need to tell anyone about - after all, it's prominently mentioned in all of the history books. Here's the gist of it - Piccolo was supposedly a demon that Muten Roshi's master had imprisoned years ago, and he had now returned to take over the world. He was worried about the threat of martial arts experts, so he had his minions go around and kill all of the Tenka'ichi Budôkai finalists from the past few tournaments, starting with me. He took control of the world briefly and declared on worldwide televison that he'd destroy Earth's cities one by one, but Goku killed him. That's basically what they told me, anyway. I was numb. That was a lot to take in. They asked me if I was going to be okay, and I only stood up and said, "Thank you for restoring my life", and locked myself in my room for 8 hours.

Everyone was still there when I came out. Muten Roshi and Chaozu had apparently been telling of their time in the afterlife. That shocked me - I hadn't thought about the afterlife. Why couldn't I remember anything like that? What was wrong with me? Was I bound for hell? Did I even have a soul at all? It occurred to me that those killed by demons, which Piccolo supposedly was, were destined never to find peace in the afterlife, but that didn't make any sense either - at least Chaozu had also been killed by Piccolo. When they asked me about it, I smiled weakly and tried to fib my way through it, and they quickly lost interest, figuring that I was too tired to tell anything. I was grateful for that.

Those first few days after being resurrected were really tough for me, and my friends all helped me through it. Everyone seemed to feel a bit sorry for me, and they tried to cheer me up. I was surprised to find that Bulma, in particular, was very kind to me during that time. People surprise you sometimes - there's more to that girl than meets the eye. After a few days, I started resembling something human again. I started thinking about what I'd do next. The others had told me that Piccolo had killed Shenlon and that Goku had had him resurrected, primarily for the purpose of bringing me back to life. I felt a great debt to Goku that I could never repay, should the both of us live to be as old as Muten Roshi. I knew that I had to thank him somehow, but what kind of gratitude would someone like Goku appreciate? I made up my mind - I'd train. I would train for the next tournament and become strong enough to give Goku a real fight, and thereby I'd show him that I didn't intend to waste the second chance he'd given me. I was awfully brooding in those days.

A couple of days later, I asked Chaozu if he'd teach me how to fly. He made me apologize for making him do math, then he said okay. "Let's start out with some simple floating," he said, and he kicked my legs out from under me. I landed face-first on the floor.

"No, no," he said, "That's no good. You're not supposed to fall." Aigh. Chaozu wasn't much of a teacher, but in that day I managed to get to the point where I could float around a bit and negate momentum. That came in handy later on.

After a week, Yamucha and Bulma went back to the Capsule Corp HQ, and Tenshinhan and Chaozu left around the same time despite Lunch's alternately tearful and threatening supplications for Tenshinhan not to leave. She was convinced that she'd fallen in love with Tenshinhan, and that only confused him and made him more anxious to leave. That left just Muten Roshi, Umigame, Lunch, and I at the Kame House, and it wasn't long before I left too. I decided to seek out Karin tower, which was where Goku had gotten the huge power boost that had made him stronger than Muten Roshi and strong enough to take out the Red Ribbon Army. It was located in the same general area of the world as the Orinji temple, so I made that journey again in reverse. This time, though, I did it on foot. It didn't take me too long to find it once I got there - it was a big landmark. Man, it was tall. I'd never seen anything like it in my life. You could look straight up and not see the top of it. I was met there by Upa, who seemed glad to see me. There was another man with him, tall and muscular. Upa turned excitedly to him and said, "Poppa, it's another one of Goku's friends!" The man smiled at me and said hello. "Um, hi!" I said. He said that he already knew that I'd come to climb the tower. He even mentioned that someone had climbed it just a few days previously. I thanked him and started to climb the tower, but I thought of something.

"Wait," I said, "You're Upa's father?"

"Yes," said the large man.

"So, um, how do you feel about being resurrected by the dragon balls?"

He smiled at me, and his eyes seemed to have a wisdom behind them. "I treat it as the most sacred of gifts," he said.

Climbing the tower was tough. It wasn't so hard at first - I knew how to climb, and I had good endurance - but after six or seven hours it was pretty maddening. I thought that I'd never see the top. It was night and morning again before I reached the top, and I had to dig my hands and feet into the tower and take a nap. Still, all of my muscles were on fire, and I was about ready to fall off when I finally caught sight of the top. The last few feet were the worst - I screamed with every movement. When I was just one handhold away from making it, I buckled. It was no use, there was no way I could go any further. Then, a hand reached down and gripped me firmly, then pulled me up. I looked up at the source of that help, and I found it to be none other than Yamucha.

"Hey, great, you made it!" he said.

"huff huff wheeze Yamucha? pant pant"

He laughed. "Yeah, it's tough, isn't it? Take one of these." He handed me a small bean like a lima bean, and I shrugged and ate it, wondering why he'd give me something like that. Suddenly, I felt totally revitalized! It was like I'd just had a good week's worth of rest and a big feast to go along with it, and, strangely enough, the cuts and scrapes I'd gotten climbing up the tower seemed to have disappeared.

"What... what kind of bean was that?" I said.

Then a cat with a walking stick walked forward and said, "It's senzu. One will last you for ten days. Is this a friend of yours, Yamucha?"

Yamucha told him who I was, and he called him Karin-sama. I blinked a few times - the great master of Karin Tower wasn't what I'd been expecting. When I asked him if he was a cat, he got really mad at me but didn't really give me an answer one way or the other. I was also introduced to Yajirobe, who was a bit of a big and homely guy with a katana strapped to his side. He folded his arms and grunted at me in greeting. We were a lovely group there at Karin Tower.

Karin-sama's training seemed to consist mostly of attempting to steal a flask of water from him, which was tough because he was really fast, and because the air up there was thin. Karin-sama told me that only two people had ever managed to accomplish it, Muten Roshi, who took three years, and Goku who took only three days. So far Yamucha had been trying for a week and a half, and I'd have to wait my turn. I was certainly impressed - I couldn't imagine Muten Roshi taking three years to do such a thing, especially when he was young. I sat with Yajirobe and watched for a week and a half as Yamucha and Karin-sama danced all over the place. I didn't do much during that time. I tried to talk to Yajirobe a couple of times, but he didn't seem to want to talk to me much. I think that he resented our interrupting his privacy. The only meaningful exchange of conversation between us came one night when I asked him what the pole extending from the top of the sanctuary was. He told me that it was Goku's Nyoi-bo, and that Goku had climbed up it to get to Kami-sama's lookout. I stared at the pole for a long time. I wanted to see Goku so badly, and I was so close to him. At the same time, I knew that it wasn't time for me to see him yet, and that I'd never be allowed up in Kami's lookout. As frustrating as it was, I resigned myself to not seeing Goku again until the next tournament.

After three weeks, Yamucha stole the water from Karin-sama. I don't know what it is about that training and threes. It was my turn after that, and it was exhausting. I couldn't breathe well up so high, and Karin-sama was brutal. He spun around me, left after-images, dangled the water in front of me and then snatched it away, and even hit me over the head with it, laughing a feline laugh all the time. I think that he really gets his jollies from doing that, the weirdo. I broke the pattern, by the way. I got the water from him after eight days. Yamucha and I were surprised that that was the extent of Karin-sama's training, and although we had gotten a lot stronger doing it, we had to figure out where to go next to train.

After thinking about it for a while, I said, "Hey, it just occurred to me. If Piccolo was really as strong as I've heard, then there's no way the Goku we knew could've beaten him. He had to have gotten another power-up somewhere else."

"Hey, you're right!" said Yamucha. "If only we could find out where he got it from, then we could get stronger."

"Well," said Yajirobe, "He did drink the god-tea stuff, that made him a lot stronger." Karin-sama suddenly hit him over the head with his walking stick and shouted, "Shut up, you idiot!"

That got Yamucha and I interested. We asked Karin-sama if he knew anything about it. He told us that he had some, but that he would not let us have any. "The Choshinsui can make one much stronger, but if you aren't strong enough, it'll kill you. Of the fifteen people who have tried to drink it, only Goku survived, and he very nearly died." He didn't have to tell us twice. I wanted to be stronger, but there wasn't much point to it if I was dead.

"Well, then," I said, "I guess I'll have to settle for what I was thinking of before."

"What's that, Kuririn?" asked Yamucha.

"I won't leave this tower until I've soundly beaten each one of you in a spar."

They looked at me sideways. "Come on, Kuririn, what are you up to?" said Yamucha.

"It'll be good training," I replied. I figured that if I couldn't beat them in a match, I hardly had a chance against Goku. "Come on, Yamucha, you first."

Yamucha smiled at me. "Well, okay then. Kuririn, I'm sorry that I'm going to have to humiliate you like this," he said smugly. "It's nothing personal. I hope that we can still be friends."

I smirked back at him. "Oh, do you now, Yamucha? Let's see."

I was used to Yamucha's fighting style, so I knew more or less what to do. Both of us were much, much stronger than we'd been the last time we'd fought less than a month ago. I did an after-image and circled behind Yamucha, which he'd been expecting, but I actually used a double after image, which caught him off-guard. I kicked him in the head and sent him flying to the ground, but he recovered. We traded blows for a while, and he used the fist of the wolf fang on me, but I grabbed his leg and pulled it out from under him, and then I leapt up and jammed my foot into his ribcage and pinned him to the floor.

"Uncle?" I said.

"Yahh... okay, uncle, uncle!"

I let him up, and he had a senzu. "It's because you're so damn short," he growled. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to guard against someone that short?"

I grinned at him. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to hit someone that tall?"

I fought Karin-sama after that. "Be gentle with me, I'm over eight hundred years old," he said.

"Really? What's that in cat years?"

Man, that set him off. He came at me like a rocket. It was a tougher fight than Yamucha, but eventually I got the better of him. I launched a Kamehameha at him, and while he was off-balance from dodging it, I tackled him. He got kind of upset at me, but he admitted that I'd won. Yajirobe stood off to one side with his arms folded. I told him that he was next.

Yajirobe practically spit at me in contempt. "You don't want to fight me."

Suddenly, Karin-sama was grinning. "Oh, Yajirobe, why don't you indulge the boy?" Yajirobe sighed and said that he'd do it as long as it would get rid of me. All of that confidence started to make me nervous, but I tried not to show it. He faced off with me and set his sword aside.

"I'm better with my sword, but I don't need it. Let's go."

Suddenly, this began to seem like a very bad idea. I tried to hide my nervousness. "Ah, so you think you're pretty good, huh?"

Yajirobe just seemed annoyed. "Are you going to attack me, or what?" I attacked him. He blocked and pounded me over the head, sending me to the ground. I did a backwards somersault and came at him again, throwing a lot of punches. He blocked them all and then tripped me. After I got back to my feet, he said, "Oh, wait, you want me to pin you, is that it?"

I couldn't believe the audacity that this guy had! "Well, duh!"

...

Holy crap, did Yajirobe ever beat me up. When he was done, I couldn't even see straight. He leaned down and pinned me with his index finger. "Ok, is that good enough?"

"Guh... guh... guh..."

"Well, all right, then."

Karin laughed like a maniac as I crawled limply over to the senzu. I was so frustrated that I thought I'd burst. How in the hell was Yajirobe that strong? It hadn't even been a fight. He didn't look so tough - he looked pudgy, even. Even Yamucha was laughing as I growled "I'll be back here later," and climbed down the tower. I was a ways down before I couldn't hear them laughing anymore. How embarrassing.

I really didn't know where to go to train after that. I lived with Upa and his father Bora for a while, and they were very hospitable. I didn't see Yamucha when he came down the tower, but I assume that he left around then. I went to a nearby city and participated in a lesser martial arts tournament, but I didn't find much of a challenge there. I did get some prize money, which was nice. I tried fighting great beasts like dinosaurs for a while, but I got tired of that. Finally, I went back to the village where I'd spent a lot of time while I was at the Orinji temple. I was recognized there, and I took up residence with a nice older couple who sold goods at market and were glad to have the help of a strong young man. I spent a lot of time isolating myself in the forest and using techniques from the temple to train myself. I also spent some time trying to find new ways to manipulate ki, starting with a basic Kamehameha and seeing what else I could do with similar techniques. I invented something that I called the Double Tsuihikidan, which was two slow but powerful blasts launched from the hands that can then be controlled fairly precisely. That move tends to throw off people who've never seen it before because they don't realize that you can control it's directon.

Thus, the time passed. I became a regular around the village, but I was careful not to become too attached to anyone because I knew that I'd only return to the Kame House after the tournament. For that reason, I remained "That funny-looking strong kid" to most people, and that was okay. As the tournament got closer, however, I started to get anxious. I knew that the tournament was only a couple of months away, and I still didn't feel strong enough. So, I set off to find a rumor that I'd heard about a wizard who granted wishes, figuring that maybe that way I could just wish for a power-up, something I'd never have the audacity to use the dragon balls for.

Oh, by the way, I've heard that any good autobiography has to have a nice, juicy secret in it somewhere, so this next part is going to contain my greatest secret. Yes, I've never told what I'm about to tell you to anyone, not even my wife of 14 years, Number Eighteen. Watch for it.

Luckily for me, this guy actually turned out to exist. He lived at the top of a sheer cliff, and one of his deterrents to people who would have their wish granted was that you had to climb it or he'd turn you back. Of course, to someone who'd climbed Karin tower, it wasn't much. When I got to him, I found kind of a bizarre small palace with an arena. I didn't actually see the guy at first, but I was informed by a huge booming voice that if it were a wish I sought, I must defeat the three champions, or some such. I shrugged. It seemed an awful lot like the Uranai Baba's test to me.

I've got to hand it to the guy, his fighters were pretty tough - they were the toughest opponents I'd had since Yajirobe. They were all tough, but I managed to beat each of them by finding and exploiting their weakness. The first battle was against a robot. The thing was a powerhouse, but it wasn't that smart. I managed to trick it into going straight off the cliff. The next one was pretty bizarre, some kind of animate creature made of straw, which was very quick but didn't have much endurance. I just let him run himself down before finishing him off. The last one, some sort of giant cat-like beast, seemed not to have any weakness until I fired a Kamehameha at it and it yelped like a puppy and dove to the floor. Really the thing was a big coward. I grinned at it and fired a Double Tsuihikidan straight up, then pointed at it and said, as menacingly as I knew how, "Next one's in your head." It screamed and took off, and I never saw it again.

After that the wizard came out, shaking like a leaf. I was as excited as a little kid. "Cool, are you gonna grant my wish now?" I said.

The guy vigorously rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, well, you see, I'm not sure I can, as such."

"What?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I've kind of been faking everyone out to gain legendary status. No one's ever beaten my champions before."

I started getting angry. "What, then you aren't a wizard?" I demanded.

I thought the guy might faint. He seemed really scared of me. "Oh, no... I am a wizard..." He swallowed hard. "I'm just not a very good one."

Well, that was just great. What a waste of time. I sighed and asked him if he thought he could increase my power any, and he got really huffy and said, "Heavens, no! You're too powerful already! You're terrifying!" Well, I was determined that neither of us would go anywhere until I thought of something that he could give me, and slowly, something occurred to me. It was only a joke to myself at first, but then I got to seriously thinking about it, and there was one thing that had given me no end of trouble throughout my life. I decided to go for it. What was there to lose?

"Um... hey, I don't suppose you could make me any taller?" I was still well under three feet tall, don't forget.

He blinked at me. "Uh, well, yes, I suppose I might be able to manage that." He rummaged through a spellbook, said some incantations, and suddenly my height almost doubled to four and a half feet tall. I nearly went into shock. My eye level was a good bit higher, which would take some getting used to. I tried out my new limbs. It felt great.

The guy sweatdropped. "That's all? I'm sorr-" he started, but I enthusiastically shook his hand and thanked him profusely, and ran off shouting happily. Ha ha ha. There's my secret for you - if I hadn't taken some initiative, I'd be even shorter than I am. In retrospect, maybe I should've asked him if he could do any better, but after having to live with being 2' 4" for so long, I was satisfied. I may not be tall, but at least I don't have to endure a sea of knees anymore.

Sorry if anyone was expecting a really good secret - I don't have any of those. I'll stop here to give you a while to recover from that startling revelation.

--END OF CHAPTER EIGHT--


	9. The 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai

~Chapter 9: The 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai~

I was really, really excited after I left the wizard's. The whole world was so much cooler. The sudden change in height was disorienting, and I tripped a lot and ran into stuff for a few days, but I was happy anyway. It was awesome for me, finally being able to do things like see over counters and reach things on shelves. The first thing I did was run out and get some new clothes, because the old ones didn't really fit anymore. I got a rugged outfit for the trip to the Budôkai arena, including an all-weather jacket. I also had a Kame School uniform made just like my old one. I tried it on at the tailor's, and I was just tickled. They probably thought that I was on something.

The exhiliration wore off after a bit - hey, it didn't take me long to figure out that I was still pretty short - but I was still pretty pumped. I went back to the village (Ah, hello, Kuririn - say, didn't you used to be shorter? Must be my imagination) and hung out until a week before the tournament. Something interesting happened one night during that time - I went outside and there was something bright in the sky - it was the moon. The moon had just suddenly returned. It was all over the news the next day, and they had all kinds of crazy theories as to why it had returned. Oddly, the moon's return didn't seem to have any catastrophic consequences. After I left there, I headed for Karin Tower. It took me an hour and a half to climb it that time. Karin-sama and Yajirobe were pretty surprised to see me. I took some senzu and hinted to Yajirobe that he might want to enter the Tenka'ichi Budôkai, and then I leapt off of the side of the tower for effect. That was pretty dumb - I was barely able to slow myself down enough to avoid being seriously hurt. I'm sure it managed to convince them that I'd gone insane, though.

I got to the island where the Budôkai is held a couple of days before the actual tournament. (No, I didn't actually swim there, I took a plane.) The city there was already bursting with excitement about the Budôkai tournament, which makes sense - I think that the tournament is probably the only exciting thing that happens around there. There was some kind of festival going on related to the tournament. The hotel that I stayed in provided information booklets about the tournament, and I even saw vendors selling trading cards of the finalists from recent tournaments. Tenshinhan's was the most popular - I guess blowing up the ring gets you a kind of infamy. On the actual day of the tournament, I was one of the first to sign up, and I hung around the arena waiting for people that I knew to show up. When I caught sight of a tall guy with unkempt hair leaning under his umbrella, I recognized him immediately as Yamucha.

"Hey, Yamucha! You're here!" I said, and he turned to me and smiled.

"Kuririn! It's been a long time!" he said, but I sort of went pale. Yamucha had an enormous scar, obviously made by some kind of blade, running across most of his face and through his right eye. It was deep and still kind of red. There was another scar on his opposing cheek that formed a cross. It made him look kind of scary, and it jarred me for a second. I asked him what happened to his face, but he only sighed and grumbled that he didn't want to talk about it. Trying to change the subject, he said that I was taller.

"Yup," I said, rubbing the back of my neck, "I guess I'm just a late bloomer." Hey, if he wasn't going to share his embarrassing story, I sure wasn't going to share mine. I grinned at him and suggested that that was one less excuse he had when I kicked his butt later on.

"Hmph," he said, "You're still a runt." I couldn't help but smile. We were jabbing at each other, but Yamucha and I were really ecstatic to see each other. There aren't many people that I can relate to in the same way as Yamucha. We ran into Tenshinhan and Chaozu shortly after that. No surprises there - they looked just the same as before. It had been raining, but it stopped then, and we could clearly make out a group of familiar people nearby - Muten Roshi, Bulma, Lunch, Pu'ar, and Oolong. There was also some guy with them who was a bit taller than Bulma, but not as tall as Yamucha. I had no idea who he was. The four of us went up to greet them, expecting some kind of greeting in return, but they just kind of stared at us as if in shock. I couldn't figure it out until I got a closer look at the tall guy with the spiky hair.

Goku.

"Kuririn!" he said happily. "We're all here!"

I'd had it completely planned out, what I'd say to Goku. I'd give him a warm greeting, and a humble thanks for what he'd done for me. When I actually saw him, though, it was too much for me. It just made me too emotional. I threw my arms around him and started crying. I think I may have mumbled something about wanting to thank him, but it was all pretty unintelligible. I'd just held it in for too long, and it all came out. Goku usually would've recoiled, he's not a touchy person, but he let me hug him for a minute because he could tell how upset I was.

After Goku finally managed to pull me off and calm me down, we had a better greeting with the others. Pu'ar gave Yamucha a hug. Well, really, she clung to his arm, but that seems like a better way to describe it. It took him a minute, but Muten Roshi did notice that I'd gotten taller. Bulma was kind of staring at Goku, which was a bit creepy. We didn't have time to say much, though, because they announced for all entrants to gather. Goku, Yamucha and I clustered together like the last time, but that time we didn't chatter so much. I asked Goku how it was training with Kami-sama, and he chuckled to himself and said that it was "deadly". I really had no idea what that meant.

Even though Muten Roshi didn't provide us with uniforms that tournament because he said that we'd become independent fighters, all three of us wore the Kame School uniform. Yamucha'd had one made like me, and I guess that Kami-sama must have created one for Goku with his godly powers. After we'd changed, we noticed something odd about Goku - odd for Goku, normal for anyone else - he didn't have a tail. Goku said that Kami-sama had removed it, something about wanting the moon back. Well, that explained a lot. Goku still didn't know about his turning into a giant ape, so we just said, "heh heh, that is weird," and changed the subject.

Right after that, weird things started happening. Goku got all serious suddenly, and we found him staring at another one of the fighters. It was a really weird-looking guy. His head and shoulders were all wrapped in cloth, and his skin was a rather vivid shade of green. He and Goku stared at each other for a bit, but they didn't say anything. After a moment, the guy turned and walked off. Tenshinhan was quivering and turning several shades of green and purple. Something serious was happening, but Yamucha, Chaozu and I were oblivious. I should've been able to figure it out from that, but I didn't. I didn't think too much of it, and I was more shocked when another one of the entrants, a pretty girl, walked up to Goku and said hello as if they'd known each other for a long time. When the hell did Goku have the time to meet a girl? Even more confusing was that Goku had no idea who she was, and he said so. That really set her off. She called him a bastard and stormed off. Goku just turned to us with a look of helpless confusion. I have to tell you that I was furious. My long-dormant ambition of finding a girlfriend was reawakened, and it hurt. Here Goku, who'd probably just recently even come to the realization of what a girl WAS, had a hot chick coming out of nowhere and acting like he's her sweetheart. Arrgh. Some people have all the luck, I thought.

The qualifiers started soon after that. Once again, we didn't face each other. Surprise, surprise. Those tournaments were SO rigged. Goku went up first. I was eager to see how he fought after being personally trained by Kami-sama, and I wasn't disappointed. He fought the same guy that he'd fought first the last time, but that time he didn't even have to try. Goku was different from before - he was utterly calm. He didn't waste any movement on his opponent. He just went behind him so quickly that even those of us who were trained could barely see him, and took him out with a light tap. He didn't use any of his strength. I smiled. Goku was so cool. Yamucha, Tenshinhan and I all easily won our first matches, although we didn't win quite as easily as Goku. I expected the qualifiers to go just like every other time - no contest for us. I already had the finalists pegged as including the five of us and possibly that intense green guy. I was wrong. Chaozu was beaten within an inch of his life in his first match by a bizarre-looking man. Tenshinhan and Goku recognized him as Taopaipai, the assassin. I'd never seen Taopaipai, but I knew that Goku had supposedly killed him during his clashes with the Red Ribbon Army. Taopaipai was an arrogant bastard, and this is one instance where my disclaimer from two chapters previous doesn't apply. He told us that he'd spent all of his money to become a cyborg so that he could become stronger and kill Goku, and Tenshinhan for defecting from the Crane Master, who was Taopaipai's older brother. That idiot actually volunteered to become a cyborg - it makes me furious. You have no idea what that means to me. I've dealt firsthand with the pain and detachment caused by that terrible process. Do you know what they DO to someone to make them a cyborg? It's horrible - I don't want to describe it. You can look it up.

Anyway, the rest of the qualifiers went mostly as usual - the strange guy that Goku and Tenshinhan had eyeballed was a monster, though. His opponents were barely left alive, and I think that he only did that because you get disqualified if your opponent is killed. We all qualified, and so did Taopaipai and the mysterious green man. The last match of the qualifiers was pretty odd-looking. One of the competitors was a middle-aged man with glasses who looked just silly, and the other was a fat guy in a ridiculous costume and mask. The fat guy actually looked pretty good, but the other guy was ridiculous. He ran at him howling and flailing, and he got lucky and tripped into his opponent, knocking him out. At least, that's what it looked like at the time. We'd learn otherwise soon enough.

The finalists were Goku, Yamucha, Tenshinhan, the cyborg Taopaipai, the middle aged-guy, "Shen", the intense green-skinned stranger, who entered as "Demon Junior", and the girl that had approached Goku, who'd entered anonymously, perhaps in the hope that Goku would recognize her before the tournament was over. We drew lots to determine matchups, and the announcer dude was there again. I walked up to him and said hi. I guess I really should've thought before doing that.

The poor guy screamed and broke down into tears. I'd forgotten that he'd had to watch as I was slain - that had probably haunted him all that time. It must have been like seeing a ghost. I told him that I'd been resurrected, and he took that about as well as anyone can be expected to take a revelation like that. His professionalism took over, though, and he managed to regain his composure for the tournament. I didn't envy him. He'd end up seeing much worse before the tournament was over.

The first match of the finals was Tenshinhan versus Taopaipai. I don't think a more tense matchup could ever have been chosen. Taopaipai was bent on killing Tenshinhan, first of all. There was also the matter of Taopaipai being the brother of Tenshinhan's ex-master, the Crane Master. As if that weren't enough, Tenshinhan had used to idolize Taopaipai and wanted to follow in his footsteps as the world's greatest assassin. I can't imagine what must have been going through his mind. We got a little visit from the Crane Master himself before the match. He was as rude and arrogant as ever. He told us that Taopaipai had become an "invincible cyborg" and would kill us all. We really should've wondered at that point where in the world the Crane Master and Taopaipai had a connection to someone with robotic technology, but we didn't. That's another missed opportunity that might've led us to Dr. Gero. I can't believe that he was allowed to go on with his evil work for so long without interference. We were blind. Anyway, I was kind of worried about Taopaipai, but Goku said not to be. He said that Tenshinhan was much stronger. Actually, I think he used the words "power level", which is just bizarre - we wouldn't learn about that concept for another 5 years.

The match finally started. Taopaipai had an insane grin on his face, and Tenshinhan looked really intense, although it didn't appear to be from lack of confidence. Goku was right, it wasn't much of a match. Taopaipai rushed at Tenshinhan and he dealt with it easily, sending the cyborg to the ground with a chop. Tenshinhan left an after image and moved an amazing distance to come up behind Taopaipai, and he just stood there. I think that he was telling him to forfeit because he didn't want to hurt him. Taopaipai got mad and struck at him furiously, but Tenshinhan had absolutely no problem evading his blows. Then things got really nasty. Taopaipai took his hand off and a blade emerged that he cut Tenshinhan with. The announcer/referee declared him disqualified for use of a weapon, but he didn't seem to care. That got us all pretty pissed off. To those of us with a respect for martial arts, such callous disregard for the rules was infuriating. Tenshinhan took it the worst of all. He had once deeply respected Taopaipai, I could tell, and to have him revealed to be nothing but a shameless coward must have been a terrible blow to him. Taopaipai took off his other hand to reveal a cannon-like apparatus and said that he was going to use something called the Super Dodonpa. Tenshinhan just stood there and fumed. The Super Dodonpa was nothing to sneeze at. It was much larger and more powerful than the original Dodonpa. The whole stadium shook slightly with the force of the blast. Tenshinhan, however, stood fast, and as it came up to him, he simply blew it away. The attack just seemed to disappate around him. I'm still not sure exactly how he did that - all I saw him do was a simple Kiai. He then rushed forward and took Taopaipai out with one punch. The Crane Master went and got him and flew off. I've not seen either of them since. I imagine that Tenshinhan dealt with them on his own time, or they were killed on one of the occasions where all evil people were purged from Earth. Tenshinhan walked from the arena with a purposeful stride and his face frozen into a nonchalant glare. Goku congratulated him on the fight. "Thanks." was all that he said. I imagine that there were deeper things going on then than I could possibly realize.

The next match was just a tad less intense. Goku had to fight the girl that had approached him earlier. She was really pissed off at him still, and she attacked him like a creature possesed. She was pretty strong, but she wasn't really in the winning class of fighters - had any of us encountered her in the qualifiers, we would surely have defeated her. The match went on for a while, though, because all that Goku really did was dodge and block. He didn't attack her because they were talking and I guess he wanted to find out just what she was so upset about. Gradually, he managed to get out of her that he'd promised her something a long time ago. When they took a break, she said, loud enough for everyone to hear,

"Idiot! You promised me that you'd take me as your wife!"

Now she was going to marry him? It was too much. Of course, what really got me was that Goku reacted by asking me what a 'wife' was. Arrgh. We had to explain to him that it meant spending the rest of your life with them. That alarmed Goku. I think that he was just afraid that he'd have to live with someone whose name he didn't even know, because he calmed down after she said that she'd tell him her name if he beat her in the match. Of course, that was nothing for Goku. He knocked her out of the ring immediately. I don't think that he even really hit her - he just moved at her, and the wind created swept her out. Isn't that insane? Trust me, it'll get much, much worse before I'm done.

After being defeated, the woman finally revealed herself to be Chichi. That was a shocking revelation to Goku, Yamucha, and everyone Muten Roshi was sitting with in the audience, but I was out of the loop for that one. "Chichi" rang absolutely no bells with me, I was still just confused and pissed off that Goku was being pursued by a young maiden, and not me. Ahh, I had a lot to learn. They walked off the platform with Chichi holding onto Goku, and Goku desperately trying to get Chichi to stop holding him. Oi.

After that was my match with "Demon Junior". Things got pretty intense from there, so I'm going to take a break for now and go visit my family. They might have forgotten what I look like by now.

--END OF CHAPTER NINE--


	10. Demon Junior

~Chapter 10: "Demon Junior"~

Goku paused from his struggles with Chichi to warn me about my next opponent. He seemed really serious. I started wondering just what it was about this guy. I was really nervous as I stepped into the ring. Everyone had been acting weird around this Demon Junior guy, and I didn't know what to expect. He floated into the ring in typical badass villain form. What a showoff. He called me a weakling and a worm, which made me bristle a bit. I made up my mind to put everything into that fight. All of the training I'd done for the past three years couldn't have been for nothing. As it turns out, it wasn't for nothing - my training probably saved my life that day.

Since Demon Junior was being so disrespectful, I went ahead and pulled out my desperation move right after the word go. I pulled my arms to my sides and focused my ki, then let loose with a Double Tsuihikidan. He laughed at my attack and dodged it easily, which was just what I'd planned on. I directed the blasts to follow him and hit him from behind. He destroyed them with blasts from his eyes, but while he was busy with that, I leapt up and punched him in the face hard. Damn, that felt good. He started to fall out of the ring, but he stopped in midair. That was a bit upsetting, but I hadn't really expected him to go out that easily. I rushed at him again, and he dodged to the side, but I turned on a dime and was on him again immediately. I was determined to follow him wherever he went. I even leapt after him when he took to the sky, which was a bit of a mistake as it let him kick me aside easily. I heard shouts of "ring out", but I wasn't going to go down that easily either. I stopped myself in midair with Chaozu's technique and landed to face my opponent again. The audience went nuts.

"Demon Junior" smiled at me and said that he was very impressed by my technique and endurance. What, respect? Pinch me.

He had a really intense smirk about him. "To apologize for calling you a weakling," he said, "I'll show you some of my true strength." He looked like he meant business. My heart was going 100 miles per hour, but I tried to remain calm. He faced me confidently for a moment before pressing his attack, and I think that it was then that I first started to realize just who I was really fighting. The green skin, the elfin features, it couldn't be just a coincidence. The guy looked way too much like a younger version of Piccolo. Yeah, I knew what Piccolo looked like. I'd seen tons of pictures. I swallowed my anxiety and tried to prepare for whatever he planned to throw at me next. I really hoped that I wouldn't die.

I'd expected something powerful, but I really wasn't prepared for what Piccolo(for it was he) did to me next. From where he was standing, he reached out and stretched his arm across the ring to grab me. Yeeeeeek. That was just disgusting and scary. He grabbed my leg and pulled me screaming across the ring into a punch, and that was no normal punch, it was powered up. That was the first time I was really hit by a powered up attack, and it hurt like hell. He sent me hurtling toward the wall, but I managed to right myself and come back at him. It was hopeless, though: he just ducked and kicked me high into the air. I was high above the stadium before I was even self-aware again. My brain felt like it was rattling around inside my head, and I knew that I couldn't take much more, so I prepared a Kamehameha and hoped for a miracle. They say that once you start hoping for miracles, it's all over. In that case, it was. I blasted a huge Kamehameha straight into Piccolo's after-image, and he went behind me and just pounded me. He sent me down toward the ground with such force that I made a dent in the ring. I thought that I would black out as I fell, and I barely managed to clench my muscles and raise my ki to protect myself before I hit. Still, I felt a sickening crunch as I hit the ground so hard that I actually bounced and hit again.

You could've heard a pin drop in the stands. They wouldn't even start the count. I heard my friends cry out, and Piccolo said something about being disqualified for killing me. I guess I must've hit the ground harder than I'd even realized. Everyone seemed so convinced that I was dead that, for a moment, I worried that I might actually be dead. I was made of a bit tougher stuff than everyone took me for, though. I strained my muscles to bring myself, wavering, back to my feet. I opened my eyes, but it was no good; the world was a blur. A cheer went up through the crowd as the announcer declared that I was back up, but there's no way that I could've fought any more, so I surrendered. Even though I lost, that match was kind of a victory for me. I strode confidently away from the ring, or at least as confidently as I could with Goku half-carrying me, and waved to the crowd. That's the only standing ovation I've ever gotten at the Tenka'ichi Budôkai. I was so proud that I waited until I was out of the crowd's sight to cough up blood and marvel at how close I'd come to being killed. Getting beat up really isn't fun. Luckily, I still had a senzu, and that helped me recover quite a bit.

As tough as my fight was, I really don't envy Yamucha for having gone through the one that came after it. At first, it seemed like he was lucky to end up with Shen. He looked like a harmless old guy, and we certainly hadn't seen him do anything in the qualifiers to give us the idea that he might be any stronger than he looked. Yamucha smiled at Goku and I as he walked into the ring and gave us a helpless shrug; I imagine that his mind was really more on what he'd do against Demon Junior than on the coming fight. He said, "I'll end this quickly." Poor Yamucha.

If my fight was something of a self-esteem boost, Yamucha's was the complete opposite, at least at the start. Shen came at him with one of the most ridiculous stances I've ever seen, rivaled only by those clowns called the Ginyu force. The audience probably thought that the match had been staged for comedic purposes. Laughter roared through the stadium, and it only got louder when Shen tried to strike Yamucha, but appeared to trip and accidentally kick him in the stomach, causing him to wince in pain. Goku and I didn't laugh. Goku seemed to sense something strange in the old man, and I thought that it was odd that a blow like that would damage someone as formidable as Yamucha that much. The match just got more embarrassing, as Yamucha tried to kick Shen and he ducked. His head ended up hitting Yamucha below the belt, if you catch my drift. I felt sorry for my friend, but I have to admit that it was funny. Even I was laughing as Yamucha struggled to gather himself after that.

"I think Yamucha deserves some applause for getting up after that!" said the announcer, and there was more laughter mixed with light applause. Man, Yamucha went ballistic. He took martial arts pretty seriously, and it really must have steamed him to be laughed at like that. He seemed determined to fight seriously after that, and he got ready for a serious offensive. That's when Shen came at him like a bolt of lightning and hit him so fast that we could barely see it, knocking him over.

The laughter stopped. Something serious was happening here.

All eyes were on the mysterious Shen, especially Yamucha's as he climbed back to his feet. Yamucha attacked Shen again, but it was no good - he was blocked and countered at every turn. Yamucha was powerless against him. It was pretty bizarre. I could have sworn I even heard Shen giving Yamucha tips on his fighting technique as they fought. I just couldn't believe how strong Yamucha's opponent was. I guess that I, of all people, should've known that you can't really judge someone's strength by their appearance - I've been on the recieving end of that mistake often enough. Goku seemed to be struggling to figure out who this guy was. Shen told Yamucha a lot of stuff, but I didn't hear it. What I remember is Yamucha's last attempt. He suddenly appeared confident again, and he said that he'd had a move prepared in case he found himself in danger, but he didn't think he'd have to use it so early. He brought one hand upward, palm up, and gripped its wrist with his other hand. I saw him concentrating his ki, and I was startled to see a small, concentrated ball of ki slide out of his hand and into his cupped palm. I'd never seen such a move before. I don't know if Yamucha invented it, but the Sokidan is a very clever move. It isn't all that powerful, but it's amazingly fast and manuverable. He threw it at Shen, who dodged, and then Yamucha made a series of precise finger movements that made the ball change direction and head for him again. It was awesome. The Sokidan went straight through the ring. Shen congratulated him on an excellent technique, but Yamucha wasn't done. The Sokidan then actually came up from under the ring and hit Shen in the chin. That move really shocked us all. Yamucha didn't have long to celebrate, though, because Shen changed his direction and came back at Yamucha, hitting him with a chop that knocked him out of the ring. It took the announcer a moment to realize what was going on and declare the winner. I was just in a state of shock over the strength of Shen. I felt sorry for Yamucha, he was never in that match.

Immediately after that, it was time for Tenshinhan versus Goku again. I was excited and maybe a bit scared to see that match. Both Goku and Tenshinhan seemed to have improved drastically from the last tournament. It was an action-filled match; the two engaged quickly and didn't disappoint. They exchanged countless blows in the space of seconds. Tenshinhan fired a ki blast at Goku, but he hit it back at him; Tenshinhan deflected it. I folded my arms, smiled, and felt very, very outclassed as I watched them zip around. At one point they started moving so quickly that only a few of us could follow them. I did, and they looked about even. When they stopped for a break, though, I saw that they weren't so even after all. After all of that hectic movement, Tenshinhan was understandably drained, but Goku hadn't broken a sweat. It looked like Goku had the definite advantage. Tenshinhan had something up his sleeve, though: more speed. As fast as they'd been going, after that he moved even faster. I could barely follow them, but I saw Tenshinhan land several powerful blows on Goku. He was moving much more quickly than Goku. When they stopped, Tenshinhan confidently declared that he'd been moving slower to observe Goku, and that he was much faster than him. It looked like he was right. I was kind of disappointed to see Goku outclassed; I'd expected a lot out of him. I was right to do so.

Goku rather politely asked Tenshinhan if he could stop to remove some articles of clothing. No big surprise there - it was pretty hot at the Tenka'ichi Budôkai that day. However, when Goku removed his undershirt, it fell to the ground with a loud thud and cracked the ground. He took off his boots and armbands too, with similar result. Yamucha and I entered the ring to pick up Goku's stuff for him, and we couldn't believe our senses. The boots, shirt, and armbands must have weighed 250 pounds in total. I was strong, so lifting them was no problem, but moving in them? Forget it. It took a moment for the facts to sink in - Goku had been fighting in these clothes for the entire tournament. And if he'd been moving that quickly with 250 extra pounds... Yamucha, Tenshinhan and I all looked at Goku in horror and awe. He was jumping around and saying that he felt really light. "So that's what godly training does," I thought. I thought that if I had one more surprise in that tournament I'd be in danger of dying from shock. Of course, things were barely getting started.

It was time to feel sorry for Tenshinhan after that. Goku was insanely fast without the weighted clothes, and he demonstrated by removing Tenshinhan's belt without his even noticing. Yikes. Tenshinhan shouted that he had a super powerful attack to try, and that Goku'd better watch out, but it was hard to take him seriously while he was trying to pull his pants up. He he. I have to admit, though, Tenshinhan's attack was surprising. He split into four bodies. Yes, you read that correctly. At first, I thought that they were just after-images, but they were all real. It wasn't like he made clones of himself, either: the four acted under one consciousness, they were all Tenshinhan. I still have no idea how Tenshinhan did stuff like that. Tenshinhan - it feels so weird saying this - Tenshinhan stood at the four corners of the ring and faced Goku. Then Tenshinhan's bodies each shot a ki blast at Goku. The only way he had to escape was up, so he took it. Then Tenshinhan - all of him - looked up and blasted Goku with four beams from his third eyes.. er, well, I guess it wouldn't really be his third... Oh, screw it. You know what I mean. The attack hit Goku and it looked as if another one would finish him, but Goku still seemed confident. He flashed that famous smile of his and said that he'd found two flaws.

"Ha! Two flaws? Stop lying! I'll be victorious!" A bit of Tenshinhan's old persona shining through his polite reformedness there.

Goku grinned at him, or at least the quarter of him that was doing the talking. "Wanna try me?"

Tenshinhan did. The whole scene repeated itself - Tenshinhan at the corners, the ki blasts, Goku jumped, but this time Goku did something different. He used the Taiyoken, blinding Tenshinhan along with most of the crowd. According to Goku, that was Tenshinhan's first flaw - his eyes were too good. Since Tenshinhan had good eyes, he relied on them to locate his opponent. That seemed like pretty bizarre logic to me - didn't everyone? - but Goku seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He knew what Tenshinhan was doing without even looking at him. Goku proceeded to knock all four Tenshinhan out of the ring quickly. The second flaw was that Tenshinhan had to split his strength among his bodies. I couldn't believe that Goku had figured out such a complicated technique so quickly. Even more alarming, Goku didn't look tired at all after that fight. I thought back for a moment to my ambition to give Goku a good fight, and I laughed at it. I felt like I was less than nothing. Tenshinhan visited with Yamucha and I for a second, and he said that he was sure that that hadn't even been Goku's real strength. I began to wonder if I was dreaming.

The second semi-final was Demon Junior versus Shen. Shen almost didn't come out in time because he was talking to Goku. I thought that that was weird - what could he and Goku possibly have to talk about? I didn't have to wait long to find out...

To say that Shen versus Demon Junior was not your typical fight is a tremendous understatement. Piccolo looked confident at first, and Shen had shed the goofy act he'd put on for most of the tournament. Right at the start, Shen did something - I'm really not sure what - and generated a blast almost like the Kikouhou. Everyone in the stadium was thrown back by the force of the blast. I looked at Yamucha. No wonder he'd lost. Piccolo was thrown high into the sky and stopped himself in midair. Shen came after him, and he barely dodged a giant Kamehameha-like blast from Piccolo. It landed in the ocean with a tremendous splash that created waves that traveled all the way to the mainland. Yamucha looked back at me. No wonder I'd lost. We were way out of our league at that tournament.

The fight continued intensely for a short while. They both looked as if they were fighting for something much more important than a tournament match. When they stopped, they spoke to each other in some strange language. It was probably Namekian, but no one knew what that was then. They had an awfully heated discussion that we couldn't understand, and then Shen set down a tiny jar. I didn't realize what he was doing with it until he shouted "Mafuba". I'd heard of the attack - it was what Muten Roshi's master had used to imprison Piccolo, and it usually used up all of the user's energy and killed them. I didn't really have time to wonder why anyone would use a move like that at a tournament or how Shen knew it. I was overwhelmed by the Mafuba.

It's hard to describe Mafuba. The whole fabric of reality seems to distort into a swirl. It's supposed to hit the target and stretch them out into the spiral, imprisoning them in a container, but Piccolo wasn't caught by it. He reversed the Mafuba and started sucking up Shen. It was very frightening. Just before Shen was sucked up, something that looked exactly like the old Piccolo emerged from him and was sucked up in his place. Mister "Shen" dropped to the ground. After the air cleared, the announcer shrugged and started a ten count. Luckily for whoever that Shen guy really was, he didn't get up in time and the match went to Demon Junior. When Shen got up, he seemed very confused and embarrassed to be where he was and ran out of the ring. Meanwhile, Piccolo went up to Goku and swallowed the tiny jar. That made Goku very angry, but I was just confused.

There was a break before the final, and Goku explained everything to us, including Muten Roshi who came back to meet with us, starting with the fact that Demon Junior was Piccolo. I groaned. I'd been suspecting that, but I'd really been hoping that it wasn't true. I was very afraid then for my own life and for the entire world. According to Goku, Piccolo had laid an egg just before dying, and the creature born from it was identical to him - a Piccolo Junior, who was much stronger than the original. Goku let another bomb drop - "Shen" had been Kami-sama fighting in a human's body, and now he was trapped in that jar that Piccolo'd swallowed. The bad news just wouldn't stop coming: Apparently Piccolo and Kami-sama had once been the same person, but had split, which meant that if Piccolo was killed, Kami-sama would also die. I was crushed. If Kami had failed against him - and I was disturbed by the very concept of Kami failing - what hope did we have? No matter which way I looked at it, the answer came up, "None whatsoever." I had a waking nightmare of Piccolo killing us all and turning the world into a hellish demon's land. Before I could despair completely, though, I noticed that something didn't fit in my vision. It was Goku. I thought back to how powerless Tenshinhan had been against Goku, and how ludicrously strong we'd thought he was. I think everyone was following the same line of thought, because pretty soon we were all facing Goku. Goku seemed perfectly fine assuming the role of hero again. I was still shaking like a leaf inwardly. All of the world's hopes were pinned on Goku, there was nothing else. Viewed in that light, everything looks different. Goku was 19 years old then, but I guess that Saiyans age more slowly, because he only looked about 15, and he frankly wasn't all that impressive to look at. I had faith in Goku, but I can't say I had utter faith. He didn't help. I asked him if he was sure he could beat Piccolo, and he dutifully informed me that he wasn't sure at all. Eeeek. Piccolo had apparently been listening to our conversation, and he stopped by to gloat at us. My spirit was shattered. Goku was all that there was between that situation and hell on Earth.

It was torture just watching the fighters step into the ring. The whole scene was an obscene mockery - the announcer hyped up the match, and the audience cheered. I wanted to scream. How could they be so blind? None of them knew just what was at stake.

The match started, and Piccolo and Goku both fought as though they were out for blood. The match was a blur. Goku was strong, but Piccolo was terrifying. They blocked each other's blows for a while, but Piccolo broke through Goku's defense. Every time Piccolo hit him, it felt like someone had jabbed a knife into me. They seperated and Piccolo came behind Goku, but Goku was watching with something other than his eyes again, and he kicked him. Piccolo tried the arm-extension thing that he'd used on me, but Goku used it against him and threw him up into the air. Goku came after him, but Piccolo surprised him and hit him with a large ki blast. After that, Goku was at his mercy. He threw more than a dozen blasts into Goku, and they drilled him into the ground, making a crater. Goku didn't get up. It felt as if all hope was lost. "What fools we've been," I thought. "Goku is an awesome martial artist, but Piccolo is a monster. Now all hope is gone, and it was so easy for Piccolo." I felt the nightmare return as Piccolo landed and the announcer, a bit shaken but still oblivious, started the count. But then Piccolo told him to stop, and Goku got up.

Goku laughed. "So you knew I wasn't beaten, huh?"

I could've had a heart attack. Goku'd been pulling his let-the-bad-guy-beat-him-up crap again. I really wish he wouldn't do that, it messes with people's minds. He smiled and seemed to actually be enjoying himself. What was he, insane?

When they engaged again, they displayed even more power than before. They seemed about even. Both of them were very resourceful. Goku kicked Piccolo before he could use his eye-beams, and when Goku tried to confuse Piccolo by moving so fast that he disappeared, Piccolo knew exactly where he was and hit him hard. Goku flew toward us from the blow, but we never saw him land. At that exact moment, he was behind Piccolo again, and he kicked him. That was when things got out of control. Piccolo got very angry and floated above the ring, preparing to destroy the entire stadium.

Goku didn't look like he was having fun anymore. "Run away!" he screamed, and he tried to jump to somewhere where the blast wouldn't hit the crowd. Piccolo launched an enormous Kamehameha-like blast, and Goku barely managed to divert its direction. it crashed into a nearby mountain and made a huge explosion that would have killed us all. I don't know why the audience didn't start fleeing then. Maybe they felt stunned. Goku prepared to use a powered-up version of the Kamehameha in retaliation, but Muten Roshi yelled for him to stop because if Piccolo was killed then Kami would die as well. That was frustrating. We'd almost forgotten about that. Piccolo laughed at our inaction and said that he'd massacre everyone in the stadium. He meant it, and Goku was afraid to do anything. Someone had to do something, and quick. We didn't want Kami-sama to die... but then I remembered the dragon balls. I yelled at Goku that we could just use the dragon balls to resurrect Kami afterward. I didn't know if that was true, but I had to say something before Piccolo blasted us all into the next dimension. That assurance gave Goku his confidence back, and he countered another enormous blast from Piccolo with an even bigger Kamehameha. It was a truely awe-inspiring Kamehameha. It was much thicker around than Goku himself. It tore through Piccolo's blast like nothing and blasted Piccolo. It didn't kill him, though. What it did do was destroy his clothing. When he landed again, the audience slowly started to recognize him... his antannae were visible now. Slowly, murmurs of "he looks like piccolo" spread through the crowd. I guess Piccolo heard them.

"Of course I look like Piccolo," he shouted, "I am Piccolo's replicate!"

The crowd was silent for a moment, then everyone stampeded toward the exits. The stadium was empty within a minute except for the fighters, Yamucha, Tenshinhan, Muten Roshi, Bulma, Oolong, Pu'ar, Lunch, me, and the announcer, who kept on announcing the match. What dedication.

Piccolo's next move was just... well, he groaned a lot, and I thought that he was just focusing his ki, but then he became gigantic. I mean, huge. His foot was the size of Goku. Needless to say, Goku had a hard time against him. Tenshinhan ran to help him, but Goku stopped him because he didn't want to be disqualified. That's right, he was still thinking about the match. If I were the one playing the hero that day, I would probably have even said, "Tenshinhan, get the hell over here and help me!", let alone refuse his help. I guess that's why Goku's the hero. Goku did manage to recover after that and do pretty well against giant Piccolo. Goku said that Piccolo's height didn't bother him at all, but maybe if he were even taller it would. I didn't realize that Goku had something up his sleeve. As if on cue, Piccolo got even bigger, and Goku jumped down his throat. Disgusting, I know, but smart. He came out again with the jar and tossed it to Tenshinhan, who set Kami-sama free.

It was a bit unnerving to have Kami-sama standing next to me, especially since he looked exactly like the original Piccolo. He became a spectator just like the rest of us. Piccolo, angered by Goku's ruse, shrank back to normal size and attacked him again. I think it's worth mentioning that Goku preformed a kamehameha with his feet. That must have been difficult to do. Piccolo blasted Goku and was helpless as Piccolo moved in to punch him, but Kami-sama got in the way and blocked the punch. He told Goku that they'd kill him together, but Goku refused his help too. He still wanted to win the match, which is admirable but stupid. Goku might have gotten us all killed with that act. Piccolo said that our help would do no good anyway, but he was only saying that because he was afraid we'd gang up on him. It's true that we were nowhere near Piccolo in power, but all of us combined with Goku could've defeated him easily. Sometimes pride can be your real worst enemy. Goku told Kami-sama to back off, though, saying that he was sure now that he could win. He reluctantly agreed, and we all decided not to interfere. Goku'd already saved the world once, so he had the right to be stubborn, we supposed.

Goku did good after that, and we started to feel confident that he'd win. Goku made Piccolo's own homing blast hit him, blowing off his arm. That seemed like a win for Goku, but Piccolo just grew it back. That made him angry. That was when Piccolo used his ultimate attack. He started charging it, and just the waves of power that he emenated while preparing it practically knocked us over. Goku got nervous and told us to run away, and he'd try to resist it. We tried to get him to run away too, but he was still being bull-headed about the tournament final. Piccolo finished charging his attack while we were arguing. Some quick thinking from Tenshinhan then probably saved all of our lives. He blasted a Kikouhou into the ground, making a bunker that we could hide in. Kami-sama didn't want to come, but Kushami pushed him. Only Kushami would have the audacity to push Kami. I think that she even called him a dumbass. Oi.

Piccolo's attack was an enormous blast. It sent up a mushroom cloud that covered the whole island, and it ripped up nearby buildings and sent them flying, not to mention eradicating the ring. We could really feel the blast from where we were, and as soon as it was over, I had to get out of there. I was really worried about Goku. I popped my head up to the surface and looked - Goku had resisted the attack. Phew. That attack was the best that Piccolo had. It was enormous, and to be honest, I thought that I'd never live to see anything to top it. I couldn't have known that our enemies in the future would be so powerful that they could have resisted that blast by exhaling. I didn't dream that we'd meet foes that destroyed planets. You know, it's almost funny to think of that attack now, and how terrifying it was. I could walk outside right now and produce something that would make it look like a firecracker. Actually, it isn't that funny. To tell you the truth, it leaves a sick feeling in my stomach. Every now and then I just get this feeling that nobody deserves to be so powerful, not me and certainly not our foes. It just isn't right, somehow.

Anyway, after that Goku had the utmost confidence that he'd win. Piccolo was terrified. Goku beat him up badly and drove him into the ground with a huge Kamehameha. We finally let ourselves feel relief. There was no way Piccolo was getting up from that. We'd have been convinced that he was dead if Kami-sama hadn't still been with us. For Goku's sake, the announcer started the ten count. We were all really happy. Goku even gave us a thumbs-up. Then, on "9", Piccolo leapt up and blasted a hole straight through Goku's right shoulder. Goku screamed as the blood pooled around him and he started coughing up blood. It was a terrible sight. Piccolo went up to Goku and crushed his arm. Tenshinhan, Yamucha and I ran up to help him, but Piccolo blasted us back and kept attacking the helpless Goku. Goku actually tried to fight back a little bit, but he was losing too much blood. Piccolo systematically broke all of Goku's limbs. It was the cruelest sight I'd ever seen. Piccolo was just a monster. He flew up to deliver the final blow. He was going to kill Goku.

Panicking, Kami-sama told Tenshinhan to kill him, so that Piccolo would die too. Poor Tenshinhan, imagine having Kami ask you to kill him. But Tenshinhan was an assassin at one time, and he would have done it, but Goku weakly called out.

"No, don't do that... I can still win..."

Poor Goku, he'd finally lost it. He couldn't even move, much less win. Piccolo shot one last ki blast at Goku, and it left nothing but a crater where he'd been. We actually thought that Goku was dead. It was terrible. Piccolo turned on us, and said that he'd kill us too. We started to prepare to fight him when we saw something. Up, in the sky... Of course it was Goku. He was flying. He did the only thing that he could still do, which was head-butt Piccolo. I guess Piccolo was pretty weak at that point, because it knocked him out. Goku landed on his front, unable to move. You won't believe what he said next.

"Judge... Piccolo is out of the ring, isn't he?"

The 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai was nothing but a memory at this point, but it was still important to Goku. The announcer summoned up his excitement and declared Goku the champion. I think that's the hardest anyone's ever worked for 500,000 stinkin' zenii.

--END OF CHAPTER TEN--


	11. Separation

~Chapter 11: Seperation~

Well, we were all really happy for a few seconds after Goku was declared champion, but then we remembered that Goku was so badly injured that he'd probably be dead within a couple of minutes. He couldn't move, and he was bleeding a ridiculous amount. Luckily, that was when Yajirobe decided to show up. I really don't know how he got there. He didn't enter the tournament as far as I can recall. If he had, I'm sure that he would either have gotten past the qualifiers or been defeated by one of the fighters(me, yamucha, tenshinhan, Goku, Piccolo) that we were watching. Maybe Shen took him out. I dunno. In any case, it was very lucky that he showed up then. He had senzu - Yamucha and I had already used all of ours, having been convinced that it was just a special kind of food. He gave one to Goku and he was instantly healed. Not just healed, but downright chipper. That was a shock. Those senzu are miraculous. I'm not sure exactly how they work, but I'm grateful for them.

Goku sprung into the air and celebrated his victory, but we weren't out of trouble yet. Piccolo was still alive. Kami-sama prepared to kill him, but he was stopped by Goku, who reminded him that if Piccolo died, then he would die as well. There was a really intense moment there where we just didn't know which way things would go. Kami-sama tried arguing that after he and Piccolo died, we could just use the dragon balls to resurrect only Kami. Goku came out with another startling revelation - Kami-sama was the creator of the dragon balls, and if he - and therefore, if Piccolo - died, they would stop working. Why do things always have to be so damn complicated?

We all stared at Kami-sama. It seemed pretty much his call as to what would happen next. Everything became very quiet and solemn, and he raised his aged, weary head toward the sky.

"I should have done this a long time ago," he said. "I created Piccolo, the great evil. I deserve to die."

Wow. What do you say when Kami-sama says that? I was still having a hard time accepting that he could die in the first place. Almost immediately, though, Muten Roshi took the opportunity to make one of his awesomely inspiring speeches. I figure that he's got maybe one of those in him per decade, and they're amazing. I think that that man could move mountains with speech. Basically, he told Kami-sama that all that he'd done had really been worthwhile. Kami seemed convinced. He made Goku a new Kame School uniform, saying that Goku was lucky to have such a wise master as Muten Roshi. Goku agreed and said that it's just too bad that he's such a perv. Heh heh. Those were my feelings exactly.

After that, Goku did something really frightening. He asked Yajirobe for another senzu, and he gave it to Piccolo. Yes, he gave a bean of which the mere act of eating restores one to full health to Piccolo, the monster that he'd barely defeated and that had held us all in a grip of terror. Piccolo, of course, was healed instantly. Goku said that he didn't want Kami-sama to die, which is noble, but he also said - and knowing Goku, I'd bet you anything that this was his real motive - that he "didn't want to lose his nemesis". Argh. Okay, at this point I was just pissed off. I'd dealt with Goku being stubborn about the match, but savior of the world or not, he had no right to endanger everyone like that. I believe that I shouted something to that effect. Goku ignored me. Piccolo spouted some random threats and flew off. Goku looked after him, and we were stunned by the confidence in his face. He was sure that he'd always be strong enough to handle Piccolo. We all just gaped, Kami-sama included. Right then, Goku seemed very, very imposing. He never quite lost that quality after that.

Suddenly, Chichi ran up to Goku, picked him up, and swung him around, much to Goku's alarm. She was really happy that he was okay. Goku, on the other hand, was just really uncomfortable with being touched and squirmed a lot. I think that Chaozu showed up around then. Tenshinhan was just in bliss when he saw that Chaozu was okay. Those two share some kind of friendship that I'm not sure I'll ever comprehend the depth of. Of course, Chaozu's arrival went pretty much under the radar for everybody but Tenshinhan in the face of what Kami-sama said next: He offered to have Goku take his place as Kami.

Wow. Just wow. Goku was 19 years old, and here he'd already been offered the position of Kami of Earth. Goku acted as if it were some kind of bad joke. He didn't even consider it. I have to admit that Goku was right not to take the job - he'd have been just terrible at it. I mean, Goku sitting around Kami's lookout, watching Earth all day? I bet you that he'd make it maybe 10 minutes before going crazy, 20 if there was food. Hence, Goku stuck his tongue out at Kami-sama and took off on his Kinto'un with Chichi clinging to his side. "See you later, everybody!" He shouted. Yeah, sure.

After Goku left, that same feeling of being let down from a pedestal washed over us. It was worse than ever that time. The situation had a great feeling of finality to it, as if the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai were the end of the adventure, and the rest of our lives would be nothing but anticlimax. It felt like the end. In reality, it was only the end of the beginning.

We were soon surrounded by law enforcement and press. Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Kami-sama all flew away when they saw them coming, and I wished that I could do the same. The new arrivals gawked at the wreckage of the arena.

"What happened here?" we were asked. None of us really knew how to respond to that. The announcer raised his fist into the air and said, "The greatest tournament final of all time." Yeah, that was a nice way of putting it. After we managed to escape, miraculously, from that mess, we all had a big meal and then went home. We were all very tired. Sometimes, excitement alone is enough to exhaust you to the point where you're ready to pass out. Muten Roshi, Lunch, and I got back to the Kame House in the evening, and I collapsed. I woke up around noon the next day, still dressed in my Kame School uniform, to a loud commotion outside. Goku had come to the island on his cloud, dressed in a nice white suit.

"Ah, Kuririn!" he said. "Do you want to come to my wedding too?"

That woke me up. "Wedding? When?"

Goku rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. "Uhm.... today?"

So, that was a pretty frantic day for us. I had to get some decent clothes for myself. I didn't really have anything nice to wear, as I'd only been my current height for about a month. It was only a few hours later when we got to the shrine where the ceremony was held. Goku had invited about half of the planet. The ceremony itself was quite small and quiet, though. Chichi would only let Goku have three of his friends in there, so he picked me, Yamucha, and Muten Roshi. Chichi's relatives were there as well, including her father Ox King, who turned out to be a rather polite, if enormous, man despite the stories about him. Kami-sama was there too, which made it pretty special. I mean, you ask for Kami's blessing at most weddings, but for how many has he actually been around to deliver it personally? All in all, it was a very sweet ceremony if a little weird. Goku looked as if he was starting to get a bit more comfortable with the idea of marriage, although he was a bit antsy for the part of the ceremony where they kissed. Chichi, meanwhile, looked as if she'd die of happiness. She looked lovely, or as I would probably have phrased it at the time, "really hot." I was still a little jealous of Goku.

In contrast to the ceremony, the reception was bustling. Goku had brought just about everyone that he could think of. I think that in total, the guests included me, Lunch, Muten Roshi, Yamucha, Bulma, Pu'ar, Oolong, Umigame, Tenshinhan and Chaozu, Kami-sama, Karin-sama, Yajirobe, Bora and Upa, Android Number 8("Call me 8-Man") and his adoptive family, a strange looking girl named Arale, and probably lots of other people, even including the Tenka'ichi Budôkai announcer, whose real name is Akira. Goku probably saw him when he went back to collect the prize money and decided that he should come too. I'm surprised Goku didn't invite Piccolo. Seriously, I wouldn't have put it past him. Someone, probably Bulma, had managed to line up some refreshments, and a lot of people expressed high opinions of Goku and wished the new couple luck. I thought to myself that I'd probably never get married. Actually, I got married about 14 years later. Of course, I learned in the intervening time that marriage isn't something that you have to do, nor is it something that guarantees happiness. It's a serious and permanent bonding between two people, and you have to be sure that you've found the right person before you go through with it. I know that I was. As sudden as Goku and Chichi's marriage was, and as little as they knew each other, they're lucky it didn't turn out badly. Okay, public service announcement over. Sorry.

After Goku's wedding, we all split up for real. No "let's keep in touch", no "we should get together at such-and-so time", just "well, see ya." I went back to the Kame House where I lived with Muten Roshi and Umigame. Lunch took off in search of Tenshinhan, and I've never seen her since. She left behind nothing but some crazy memories and a huge stockpile of guns and other weapons that we STILL find lying around the Kame House to this day. Sometimes I wonder how things turned out for her. Knowing her, I'd say that she probably found Tenshinhan. Whether anything happened from there is anyone's guess.

Let's see, now. The 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai took place in May of 756, and Raditz didn't arrive until October of 761, so more than 5 years went by then during which nothing too distressing happened. Actually, someone named Garlic Jr. did try to take over Kami-sama's throne, but he was stopped by Piccolo, Goku, and Goku's little son Gohan, but I didn't realize it at the time. I didn't even know that Gohan existed, that's how out of touch we were. For some reason, I fell out of touch with everyone. I don't know why I let that happen. It would have been easy enough for me to visit my friends, or vice versa. So many wasted opportunities. I regret them now that they're gone forever.

I was twenty years old when I got back to the Kame House, and I took a serious look at where my life was going. I didn't know that I was just biding time until the next time something terrible happened. To me, those were the first days of the rest of my life. I made a conscious decision to live permanently at the Kame House. Muten Roshi was fine with that, he'd gotten used to having me around. I guess that I vaugely intended to get my own house someday, but I never really got around to it. In fact, I still live there. I don't view that as a failure or anything. After all this time, I consider Muten Roshi to be my family almost as much as my wife and my daughter. He's kind of like the father that I never had, to use a common phrasing. Anyway, back on topic, I intended to get a job, I really did, but I never landed anything for very long. Since Muten Roshi had plenty of money saved away to support us and to keep him freshly supplied with dirty magazines, it didn't seem too urgent of an issue. The upswing of this is that I had a LOT of free time, and I wasn't really inclined to spend it the same way that my master did. I did a lot of stuff to keep myself occupied. I became somewhat of a neat freak. I did the cleaning and cooking around the house. I took up cards. I got my driver's liscense. After I passed the legal drinking age, I became one of the regulars at a tavern-like place in town. I enjoyed hanging out around there, especially as the people became familiar with me and would actually greet me as I came in. It feels nice to belong, doesn't it? I also took to drinking a bit, although not heavily. I never got really drunk. Well, hardly ever.

It was there that I met Maron. I remember thinking how odd it was to see such a young and beautiful girl in there - I mean, it's not like it was a dirty or seedy place, but we didn't get that type much. She was a bit younger than me, and she was very attractive, although a bit bubbly. When I saw her, I desperately tried not to be seen. I was so intensely focused that I didn't notice when she sat next to me, or that she'd been staring at me thoughtfully for a few minutes.

"Hi," she said, "Do you always look straight down into your drink?"

My heart did a flip. She'd spoken to me! "Heh. Not really," I said, trying to sound like I wasn't nervous. Pretty soon we indroduced ourselves. She was just passing through town, although why or by what means was never exactly made clear to me. She suggested that we go have some fun, so we did. She was impressed by my background and by my ability to fly(I'll explain that in a moment). We had a few fun nights together, nothing serious. We ate a few meals, saw a movie, danced a bit. It seemed like magic, as many relationships that are too short for you to actually get to know the other person do. Really, my attraction to her was based 10% on the fact that she was cute, and 90% on the fact that she'd actually noticed me. Seriously, I was four and a half feet tall, bald, and noseless. Add to that my low self-esteem and withdrawn shyness, and you can see why girls noticing me was a pretty rare occurrence. She left after a few days, and I didn't think that I'd ever see her again. I was wrong.

Finally, I spent a good amount of time training. It wasn't strength training so much, or anything strenuous, like I'd always done before, but more technique-based. The first thing I did was teach myself to fly. I could already float around a bit, so it wasn't a huge leap, figuratively speaking. That made getting to and from town a lot simpler. I also spent a lot of time experimenting with the ki blast. It's a very fascinating and useful phenomenon. I usually don't like to admit this, but almost anyone can create a ki blast at least powerful enough to knock over a soda can from a foot or so away with some practice. You need a lot more power to do anything you could use in combat or even see, though. There isn't really a lot to generating a ki blast. You don't have to stand in place and yell or say "Kame... Hame..." or anything like that. All you have to do is focus your ki and release. I find that these techniques generally fall into two categories: blasts and spheres. There are some that don't really fall into either of those, but that covers most of them. You can put a lot or a little bit of energy into any type of ball or attack. You're drawing directly from your life force, so there's a feeling of being drained - almost as if you've just expelled a piece of yourself. In the case of blasts, they're usually formed from the hands or the fingers, although you aren't really generating the blast from there most of the time. The hand position is really more for projection than anything - I could do a Kamehameha with gloves on. This is a good thing, because if that was really coming out of your hands, it would probably hurt a lot. Low-power blasts tend to take a conical shape and disappate if you launch them too far away. With a greater concentration of energy, though, you can make the blast constant and a bit more controllable, although at the sacrifice of speed. The Kamehameha and Dodonpa are both examples of this, just the area of the blast is changed. Spheres or balls of ki, on the other hand, are something completely different. They tend to require more concentration and are more difficult to produce because in the case of a blast, you're just expelling energy, but with a ball, you're trying to create an object with your energy. Also, ki balls really are generated from your hands. You can feel it coming out. It actually feels kind of cold, but if you leave it at that stage for too long, you can burn yourself. Ki balls really aren't as powerful as blasts, but they're more versatile. You can make them extremely controllable, like Yamucha's Sokidan, or you can change their shape. That's how I created one of the most deadly things I've ever seen: The Kienzan.

Like I've been saying, I had a lot of time to mess around with this stuff. I found that by creating a simple ball of ki and crushing it in on itself, I could make it flatten out a bit. When I did this, sometimes it tended to spin. By making it spin more quickly, I found that I could flatten it out into a razor-sharp disc with its energy concentrated at the edges because of centrifugal force. That's kienzan. I've made about 90 or so of those, and I've never once seen one stop before it disappated. They'll cut straight through absolutely anything. Pretty nasty. I never, ever use the kienzan unless there's a real danger present. I also developed a couple of decorative moves. I found that I could change the color of my ki blasts to just about anything in the spectrum. As far as I know, I'm the only one who's noticed this. I made one that I call "sparkler", which is basically like a firework made of ki, and another slightly more involved one in which I make two precise, white blasts from my index fingers so that they meet each other in mid-air. That way, I can actually write sparkling letters in the air that stay there for several seconds. It's a hit at parties.

All in all, I enjoyed those years to myself, but it seemed like something was missing from my life. I felt that I had to find a definite direction and go with it, and I was having trouble doing that. Well, my decision was made for me. Bulma called me one day in October and said that she'd be coming to visit us at the Kame House. I hadn't seen Bulma in nearly two years, so I thought that the day of her visit would be a pretty exciting day. I had no idea.

--END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN--

CLUNKY CONTINUITY NOTE: You don't have to read this. Just play along and you'll be fine. However, if you really care, Kuririn's description of Garlic Junior in this chapter is a brief summary of the events of DBZ Movie One, with one big difference - in the actual movie one, Kuririn helps fight Garlic Junior. I've changed that here because Kuririn isn't supposed to know that Gohan exists yet. Okay. Hope that straightens things out.


	12. From The Stars

~Chapter 12: From the stars~

It was the middle of the afternoon by the time Bulma got to the Kame House. Muten Roshi, Umigame, and I were all really excited to see her. After all, Bulma's visit was the most exciting thing that had happened to us in weeks. She gave us a friendly greeting and a package of tea cakes. Muten Roshi didn't waste any time in making a lecherous comment and getting bludgeoned by Bulma, although I don't think what he said was really dirty or anything. Besides, it just wouldn't have been the same if he hadn't said something to her. It felt like old times. Bulma looked like she was doing well. After we got settled in, I made the mistake of asking about Yamucha.

That set her off. Bulma went on an anti-Yamucha rant that included shouting, exaggerated arm movements, and the phrase "I'm better off without him and so are you!" I think that she was on about something Yamucha had done, but I doubted somehow that he was entirely at fault. You know, for as long as those two were supposedly a couple, I can't remember any point at which they seemed happy together. It's too bad, really. They probably could've been friends if they hadn't tried to force a relationship. It's none of my business, I guess.

Bulma kept going about Yamucha for about two whole minutes, and she probably would have gone on even longer if we hadn't heard a strange whooshing sound and seen something outside. Through the screen door, I saw a cloud hover over the ground and someone jump off of it. My heart leapt - it was Goku! I couldn't contain myself; I bolted for the door and shouted to him. He smiled and waved. What a great day this is, I thought. We'd catch up and reminisce, and then maybe all four of us could go out and do something. Almost immediately, though, we noticed something strange - Goku had brought someone. It was an adorable little kid wearing a surcoat. He was shy and clung to Goku's leg, but he was also a polite kid. He smiled at us - what a cute smile, too - and said hello.

"Hey, Goku," said Bulma, "Who's the kid?"

Goku beamed at us. "He's mine!"

We all jumped involutarily. Son Goku - a FATHER? It was a pretty mind-boggling concept. I guess we shouldn't have been so surprised. He had been married for five years, after all. Somehow, though, it didn't seem to fit. Having kids was an adult thing, and in my mind, "Goku" and "Adult" were firmly established polar opposites. The kid's name was Son Gohan, after Goku's childhood grandpa. He was four years old("This many!", he said, holding up four fingers) and he did look quite a bit like Goku. Specifically, he had a tail, a monkey-like tail like the one Goku had as a kid. That put us all on edge a little bit. When Goku'd had that tail, he'd always transformed into a giant ape when he saw the full moon. We tried not to linger on that subject, though, because Goku still didn't know that he had been the ape monster all those times. So, instead, I asked Goku if Gohan was as strong as he was. I'd obviously hit a nerve, because Goku folded his arms and pouted. He said that Chichi wouldn't let him train the kid. I commiserated with him on that one - what a waste of a potentially great martial artist. We both agreed that Chichi was making a big mistake. Now, though, I understand perfectly what her intentions were, and they were the best. Heaven knows that I wish that we could've prevented poor, sweet little Gohan from getting roped into the hell that would come in the years to follow. I guess that you can never really understand the heart of a protective parent until you've become a parent yourself.

We went on catching up with Goku for maybe another minute and a half, and then the world was turned upside down. Suddenly, Goku got really nervous. His hair stood on end. Well, it stood on end even more than it does under normal circumstances. "Something's coming," he said, shuddering all over. "Something... powerful!" At the next moment, a man came down from the sky. He was tall, with huge muscles and ridiculously long hair and a smug expression frozen on his face. He faced Goku - we were all standing right around Goku, but he looked right through us. It was Goku that he was facing. A nasty smirk came into his features.

"Ah, there you are... Kakarotto," he said, talking directly to Goku. "You look just like your father."

Well, that was confusing. I looked at Goku - maybe he knew this guy? - but he had no idea what was going on either. The strange man started some insane chatter about exterminating the species on our planet, and my first reaction was to get annoyed. Frankly, I was not impressed. Yeah, he looked big and tough, but so did a lot of people. Keep in mind that I was used to being within the five strongest fighters on the planet, so I didn't really consider that I might not be able to handle him. The fact that he'd flown in had thrown me a little, but hey, so what? I could fly too. What really should've tipped me off, of course, was how nervous he was making Goku. Goku always had had a knack for those sort of things. Still, when he started going on about exterminating species, I took him for a simple lunatic and went up to him to tell him in so many words to buzz off. He swatted me like a fly, and I went straight through the wall of the Kame House. He didn't even use his arms or legs to hit me; he used his tail. It was just like Goku's and Gohan's. There was a heated discussion - something about tails and Goku losing his memory as a kid - but I didn't catch much of it because I was busy trying to gather my strength to stand up. I thought that there was no way anyone could be powerful enough to hurt me that much with a blow like that. Not even Piccolo could have done that. I got up just in time to hear the revelation that would change everything forever.

"You and I, Kakarotto," the stranger growled, "We are the same! You are a Saiyan, a member of the most powerful warrior race in the universe, and I, Raditz, am your older brother!"

How can I possibly describe how it felt to hear that? Goku had a brother, and he was an alien. Goku himself was an alien named Kakarotto! Confusion? Shock? Terror? Probably some mixture of the three. Imagine how Goku took it. In his own mind, he'd always been human. To have someone come along and rudely shake him out of that belief must have hurt. Of course, he didn't want to believe it. I didn't either. Goku called Raditz a liar. He demanded that he take it back. Raditz' smirk only grew even more cruel, and he went on to explain the Saiyans. As Raditz told it, they were a race that would locate inhabitable planets and sell them to races looking for space. First, he said, they would render the planet suitable for its new residents - by killing every native being on it and reducing it to a lifeless husk. As young children, Saiyans were sent to exterminate the populations of the absolute weakest planets - those planets whose inhabitants would put up next to absolutely no struggle. Earth was one such planet, and Goku had been sent here as a child. According to Raditz, he would surely have wiped out Earth's entire population within a few years, except that he hit his head, making him lose his memory and turn into the sweet, unassuming Goku that I knew. Raditz told us all this very matter-of-factly and as calmly as if he were explaining any common business procedure. Can you hear that crumbling sound? That's the sound of humans' confident little sense of supremacy being destroyed forever. Seriously, this was about 25 years ago, so many young people today are already used to the fact that aliens exist, but up until Raditz came to Earth, we humans had been pretty sure of ourselves. We thought that we were the only life aside from perhaps some distant primative organisms. Then, suddenly, it turned out that not only were there other races, but that, compared to them, we humans were nothing. To the Saiyans, even the strongest of humans(me, for example) were worth about as much notice as a slug or an ant. Raditz also mentioned that Saiyans show their true power when exposed to a full moon, which explained the whole giant monkey thing. He went on to inform us that the Saiyan homeworld had been destroyed, and only four of the entire race remained, including Goku. He'd come to take Goku back with him to help clear out planets. I was petrified. This guy was so confident that he was actually explaining things to us, as if we were no threat. What could we possibly do?

Of course, Goku wasn't just going to take that. He stood up to Raditz as best he could and said proudly, "I don't care if you are my brother! I don't care if I am an alien! I'm not like you! I'm Son Goku now - get off of my planet!" Alien or not, he was still Goku. Seeing Goku take a stand like that gave Muten Roshi, Bulma, and I the courage to rally behind him. It felt like we were representing our whole planet. Raditz just laughed and repeated his offer to Goku. Goku refused, of course. That's when Raditz noticed Gohan.

"Ah, is that your whelp, Kakarotto?" he said, moving towards him. Goku stepped in front of him and prepared to attack him to protect Gohan, and I did the same, just in case. We didn't have a chance to do anything. Raditz kicked Goku before he could even move. That one kick sent Goku halfway across the island, and it rendered him helpless. He just laid there on the sand, grasping his abdomen and trying to scream but only managing a strained groan. I was still ready, but you're insane if you think I'd have attacked Raditz after seeing that. I was too petrified to move. This guy had beaten Goku with one kick. Gohan ran to his fallen daddy, but Raditz picked him up. He told Goku that unless he agreed to come, Gohan would die. As proof of his "good intentions", Goku would have to kill a hundred humans within a day. I couldn't believe the cruelty. He used a child. It still makes me fume a bit to think about it. He also casually mentioned that whatever Goku's decision, the Saiyans would clear out Earth soon anyway, and then he just took off. Goku was extremely upset. He called for his Kinto'un and almost took off right after him, but we surrounded him and talked him out of it. I distinctly remember grabbing him by the front of his gi and shouting that he would die if he went after Raditz. I remember that very distinctly because I was right.

After we got Goku calmed down a little, he came up with a kind of plan. With any luck, Raditz had the same weakness in his tail that Goku had once had. If Goku could get ahold of that tail, Raditz' power would drop.

"Well, yeah, but how are you gonna get to it?" I asked.

"Well, you and Muten Roshi-sama will help me, won't you?"

Of course we agreed, but I started to panic. I could just picture Raditz laughing as he tore through all three of us like nothing. He was just too powerful for us to fight. In an attempt to reassure myself, I said that at least Bulma could revive us with the dragon balls if we were killed by Raditz, but even that hope was destroyed when Goku told us that Shenlon would grant no one wish twice. Since Roshi-sama and I had already been revived, we couldn't be brought back to life again. "This time," he said, "death means death." Aie. Now I was really panicking. Still, we didn't have much choice but to go after Raditz. We had a kind of plan. Since Gohan had been wearing one of the dragon balls on his hat, we could use the dragon ball radar(which Bulma happened to have with her, which is a bit odd now that I think of it) to track Raditz' position. We'd try to get him to get careless so that Goku could grab his tail, then I'd cut his head off with a Kienzan. Having something of a plan made us a little more confident, and we prepared to go after him. Suddenly, we heard a voice from nearby.

"You have no chance..." it said. It was Piccolo. Apparently, he'd been watching us the whole time, and Goku had been too distracted by Raditz to sense him. The sight of Piccolo didn't exactly cheer us up. Things had been bad enough before he got there. Piccolo surprised us with his intentions, though: he wanted to kill Raditz. He said that the three of us had no chance against him, and that our only chance was for Goku and Piccolo to ally against him. I never thought that I'd see that happen. Goku was unimpressed, though, and only asked Piccolo what was in it for him. Piccolo told us that while he hated Goku, and Gohan's kidnapping was beneath his notice, he wanted to protect Earth. Of course, he veiled that intention under something like the Earth being his alone to terrorize. Goku agreed, and he grabbed the radar from Bulma and hopped on Kinto'un. He and Piccolo flew off after Raditz.

The rest of us were just stunned. We couldn't think of anything but to get into the craft that Bulma'd came in and go after them. It was a nervous trip. We were really afraid that Raditz would have killed them both before we got there. We thought that the best that we could hope for would be to get there before the battle was over so that we could help out. Since our craft was slower than Piccolo and Kinto'un, and Goku had taken the radar, the battle was already over by the time that we arrived. We must have missed one hell of a battle, because Piccolo and Goku were far, far weaker than Raditz, but they somehow managed to eke out a victory. When we got there, only Piccolo was standing. Raditz was dead, Gohan was unconscious off to the side, and Goku was lying on the ground with an enormous hole in his chest. We landed and poured out of the craft. I ran to Goku first and knelt by him. That was one nasty wound. Amazingly, Goku was still alive and conscious. Piccolo gave us the short version of their fight - Gohan had displayed a hidden power and managed to help. Goku had held Raditz while Piccolo used a special ki blast that went straight through both of them.

I held Goku's hand. It was unbearable to see him in such bad shape. I told him to hang in there, but I knew already that he'd be dead in seconds. Goku managed to smile at me and actually say something.

"Hey... Kuririn..." he said, "Dying sucks... huh..."

I was almost crying, but I smiled at him just the same. "Hey," I said, "We'll bring you back with the dragon balls."

"Thanks," Goku said, and he died. I leapt back in surprise and alarm. His dead body had just vanished into thin air the moment his life left it. Piccolo explained that Kami-sama must have taken his body. I didn't know what Kami-sama could possibly want with Goku's body, but I just had to accept it. It wouldn't have done any good to worry about that. We started talking about gathering the dragon balls to bring Goku back to life. I was upset. It's not very fun to watch one of your best friends die, even when you know that they can be brought back to life. We also took a device off of Raditz that Piccolo had said was used to measure an opponents power and position. It was a little unit that attatches to the head and has a small display in front of the user's eye. They're called "scouters", but we didn't know that yet. I had to get it off of Raditz. Brrr. I hated to touch him. I kept imagining that he'd suddenly come back to life and crush my skull.

Anyway, we soon learned that we weren't out of the woods yet. Piccolo, after stopping to regenerate an arm that had been blown off (I'll never get used to seeing him do that), very matter-of-factly announced that he'd be taking Gohan. He said that Gohan was powerful and needed to be trained so that he could help when the other two saiyans, who were each stronger than Raditz, got to Earth in a year. We protested, but there was nothing we could do to stop Piccolo from taking Gohan. He told us that he'd kill us if we tried to stop him and he meant it. There was nothing to do but try to gather ourselves and return to the Kame House. I was emotionally exhausted again - it had been one hell of a day. I just wondered how I'd explain everything that'd happened to Chichi.

--END OF CHAPTER TWELVE--


	13. Training, Training, And More Training

A/N: I left out a famous bit of filler in this chapter in which the gang at Kami's Lookout goes into the past and are killed by Saiyans. I feel that this sequence belabors the point(We get it, sayians = strong) and I don't like writing based on things I haven't seen if I can avoid it.

~Chapter 13: Training, training, and more training~

It was a very quiet ride back to the Kame House. It wasn't that we didn't have anything to say, it was that the mood was too solemn for anything to be said. As the minutes passed, one thing really started to sink in: Goku was dead. It made me feel sick and delirious just to think of it. He'd always seemed just about invincible, and somehow I'd never thought that I'd have to see him die, at least not like that. It hadn't looked like he was suffering. In fact, he looked pretty happy for a dying man. What really makes Goku so special is how he always seems to be so full of hope, even in the worst times, that it gives everyone hope. With him gone, the whole world felt a lot more... hopeless.

I was still holding Gohan's hat. It had the four-star dragon ball attached to it. "I can bring him back," I thought. Yeah, sure, absolutely. I could bring him back, and I damn well intended to. Goku was dead, but he wasn't really gone, so there was no real reason to mourn, right? Yet, I felt rotten whenever I started thinking that way. I'd just seen my best friend die, and here I was just shrugging it off, saying "Darn, Goku's dead, oh well, we'll just have to get the dragon balls together and bring him back, no harm, no foul." What the hell kind of attitude was that to have? I guess I'm being a little hard on myself - that wasn't really my attitude - but dragon balls or no dragon balls, he had died. Everything had gotten pretty screwed up if that didn't count for something. So, I was really sad, but I scarcely had time to be sad from all of the worrying. I wasn't looking forward to facing Chichi. I didn't even know her; I'd only seen her twice and that was over 5 years previously. All I knew was that she was Goku's wife and she was not likely to be very happy to hear that her husband was dead and that her son had been kidnapped by Piccolo, of all people. I was worried about Gohan, too; to say that I didn't trust Piccolo would be an understatement. Most of all, though, and I think that this was true for Bulma and Muten Roshi as well, I was afraid for the fate of the entire planet. I couldn't stop thinking about what Piccolo had said: in a year, probably less, two Saiyans who were each even stronger than Raditz would arrive on Earth. Things already seemed hopeless. Even if Goku was revived, and we found Yamucha, Tenshinhan and Chaozu, and we all trained and got a lot stronger, and Piccolo stayed on our side and trained Gohan to be a strong warrior, even allowing all that, what could we possibly do against that much power? It was all I could do not to give up before the struggle even started.

Back at the Kame House, we made plans about what to do next. We didn't know where Chichi lived, so we decided to just wait until she came to us to tell her about everything. We decided that the next day Bulma and I would hunt down the dragon balls, and we'd contact Yamucha and Tenshinhan somehow to let them know about the situation. I was too drained and miserable to do anything but go right to sleep just then, though. I slept straight through until morning. During the night, someone destroyed the moon again. I think that it was Piccolo. You'd think that something like that would have an enormous effect on the entire planet, but it really doesn't seem to have that much effect, other than tidal shifts and, of course, the absence of the moon. You know, sometimes I miss the moon. The sky looks lonely without it.

I awoke to being shot in the head, one of the more psychotic things Bulma's ever done. Apparently she was upset that we'd gotten to sleep while she spent all night repairing Raditz' scouter and converting it to our numerical system, and she spotted one of Lunch's old firearms lying around. Where'd she learn to use a gun like that, anyway? Yeesh. She gave us a quick demonstration of the device by reading our power levels. I had my power read for the first time ever then - it was 206. I was kind of surprised how much higher it was than Muten Roshi-sama's, 139. Bulma demonstrated that the device could locate powerful people anywhere in the world. She found a 250 - Tenshinhan, we figured - a 177, which sounded like Yamucha, and a much greater power, the greatest on the whole planet, a 329. That had to be Piccolo. We realized that we could use the scouter to find people, and we considered going after Piccolo. Actually, we really wanted to go after him and try to rescue Gohan. I felt so sorry for that little kid. But, when we thought about it, Piccolo's taking Gohan was part of a greater plan to save the Earth, and besides, Piccolo would have killed us all if we'd tried. With a level of 329, he wouldn't have had much trouble.

Hey, I ought to explain power levels. I'm not sure exactly what's being measured, but it's some combination of physical strength and ki concentration. Basically, a higher power level means more fighting prowess, although that obviously doesn't mean that someone couldn't possibly win a fight with someone who had 5 times their power level. I'll try to give you a perspective on these numbers. The average person, depending on strength, is somewhere from 1 to 8 or so in power level. World-class martial artists are as high as 80. Muten Roshi, who before all this craziness started was the ultimate master of martial arts, is 139. The super Saiyans get into the hundred millions. I'm not kidding. Right now, sitting at this computer and not powered up but not surpressing my power either, I'm probably about 25,000, which might explain why this monitor flickers so dang much. Someone with a power level of 10 million or above(which I am well above when powered up, actually) could probably destroy planets. Generally, after you get above 500,000, the statistics involved start to make your head spin, so I won't go into power levels too much. I'm just pointing out that we were already ridiculously strong at this point, but it got much, much worse.

After Bulma's little demonstration, there was a knock at the door. I answered it and was surprised to find Yajirobe. He had a cross look on his face as if he was doing something that he'd been forced to do. He scarcely more than mumbled that I, Yamucha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu all had to come to Karin Tower.

"Kami-sama's going to train us," he said. I was stunned. I, I had been summoned by Kami-sama. He was going to train us for the sake of the Earth. I swore over and over that we'd all be there right away. Yajirobe only said, "Good," and started to leave. "Oh, I almost forgot," he said, turning back to face us, "Don't bring Goku back from the dead until the bad guys get here. He's trainin' in hell. See ya." He hopped in his craft and sped off.

We all just stared in the direction that he'd gone. My stomach twisted itself into a knot. NOT revive Goku? Goku was going to stay dead for a whole YEAR? And what was with that "training in hell" remark? He wasn't just dead, he was in hell too? I might have fainted. Never, ever pick Yajirobe to deliver crushing news to someone. Ever. He's not exactly the subtle type. Yajirobe had scarcely left when another aircraft came speeding toward Kame Island. This one had Chichi and her father, the Ox King, in it. It was the moment we'd been dreading. I tried to gather myself, but the sight of the Ox King, who is just enormous, made me kind of sheepish. Sure enough, as soon as Chichi got out, she asked us where her son was. We all just kind of mumbled, and finally Muten Roshi just kind of blurted out that Piccolo had taken him. Great. I think that you can imagine how they reacted to that.

"What was Goku doing during this?" shouted the Ox King.

"Oh... dying... mostly..." Muten Roshi replied. Don't ever pick him to deliver crushing news either. Chichi nearly popped a vein, and fainted on the spot. That might sound funny, depending on how you look at it, but I felt terrible. We should have been a lot more respectful in giving her that news. We woke her back up. She and the Ox King panicked and bombarded us with a storm of questions. We desperately tried to calm everyone down, and I ended up being the one to tell the story of Raditz. I was annoyed with us for being so blunt, and I tried really hard to be a bit more tender about the whole damn thing. Poor Chichi fell to pieces right in front of me. We tried to comfort her, but her husband was dead and her little son had been taken by the greatest evil that she'd ever known. I hadn't even told her about the Saiyans that were coming yet. It all felt just terrible. She didn't even know us, and Goku had just gone off for a quick visit and now he was dead. How was she supposed to feel? I don't blame her in the slightest. Of course, things got even worse when we had to tell her that we couldn't revive Goku or rescue Gohan for a year. (She already knew about the dragon balls. At least that was one less outlandish explanation to make.) She didn't exactly take that revelation sitting down. In fact, she got very angry at us, punched me in the face, and stormed out. She came back later on and apologized, though. She said that she understood how important it was that Goku and Gohan be allowed to train, and she even gave us the two dragon balls that Goku had collected just for kicks over the years. I admire that - it couldn't have been easy for her.

Later that same day, we decided to round up everyone that Yajirobe had said to bring. Bulma and Muten Roshi went to find Tenshinhan and Chaozu with the scouter, and I had to go get Yamucha. Finding him wasn't hard because Bulma knew where he lived. Yamucha had become a professional baseball player since the 23rd tournament. That's something that even I knew - we did have TV at the Kame House. He'd bought a mansion in West Capital City, not too far from the Capsule Corporation HQ. I went there dressed kind of formally for me, and I deliberately drove instead of flying(Bulma dropped me off in E. Capital first, of course). Yamucha's mansion was... well, it was big. It's nice, I guess. Well, actually, it's beautiful. I don't know, though - I really don't see what Yamucha needs a place like that for. He says that he felt like it was just something he should have, being a pro baseball player. I guess that makes sense.

I was shown into the place and pretty soon I was face-to-face with Yamucha himself. He was actually wearing his baseball uniform, which sort of made me wonder if he often hung out wearing that. His scar had faded a little, but it was still the predominant feature of his face. He was happy to see me. I wished that I could claim the same.

"Hey, Kuririn, I can't believe you're here!" he said. "Do you want me to get you anything? Because, believe me, this place is loaded. Hey, what are you doing around these parts, anyway? You're a long way from the Kame House."

I hadn't been looking directly at Yamucha. I could scarcely face him. Looking around his mansion, I saw what a nice life he'd made for himself. I was happy for him. I hated so much to destroy it all in the space of a few minutes. But I didn't have much choice, did I? I stuck my hands in my pockets and looked him straight in the eyes. "Yamucha," I said, "I'm really sorry."

I told Yamucha the whole story. It wasn't easy, because I had to explain so many things. I started out by saying that Goku was dead, just to get the biggest shock out of the way. I watched Yamucha's face as I talked, and in a short span of time it went from shocked to enraged to despairing to upset. He sputtered a bunch of questions, but I just kept going. I was determined to get it all out in one go, because it was still pretty painful just to recollect it.

"...so, that's the situation," I finished. We sat there silently for a few moments.

"We have to do something," said Yamucha solemnly.

"Yeah."

I didn't have to ask Yamucha to help. He volunteered. He wouldn't have listened to me even if I'd told him not to come. Really, what else could he do? Sit back and wait for the Earth's destruction? Somebody like Yamucha could never stand for that. So, I waited for a bit while he made arrangements to be gone for a long time, and he and Pu'ar came with me. We were picked up by a craft with Bulma, Muten Roshi-sama, Oolong, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu in it not long afterward. We greeted each other with nods. Everyone knew what was going on. The first thing we did was to go ahead and find the four dragon balls that we hadn't already collected, so we'd have them whenever we needed them. With all of us, it didn't take that long, although one of them did take a while to get to because it'd fallen into the ocean. After that, we all went back to the Kame House to rest and regroup ourselves before heading to Karin Tower to recieve training from Kami-sama. There were so many of us that almost everyone had to sleep on the floor. I didn't get much sleep. With the exception of Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Bulma, hardly anyone did. Muten Roshi-sama and I stayed up trying to think of anyone else that we could bring, but we couldn't come up with anyone.

"What about that Namu guy? He was strong," I said.

He shook his head. "No, let's not bring him into this. He's already been killed, don't forget."

"Well, would you like to come, Master?"

He laughed slightly and shook his head. "Ah, my boy, how I'd love to... I hate so much to sit here and feel helpless... but I'm far too old, I'd only get in your way."

That was kind of a disappointment to me, even though I'd been expecting it. Then, I thought of someone perfect. "Hey, I know, we can find Jackie Chun!" I said, suddenly excited. "I'm sure he'd help us!" Of course, that was when I got the explanation that "Jackie Chun" was really Muten Roshi himself. He was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. Later, Yamucha would tell me that he'd known all along. I think that he was full of it. Anyway, we gave up on trying to find anyone else. We were it - the world's entire defense. What a scary thought. I heard Pu'ar and Yamucha outside late at night, and I could sort of see them through the screen. Pu'ar cried and told him not to go. I felt guilty and covered my head with a pillow.

The next day, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, Yamucha, and I all said our goodbyes and left for Karin Tower. All four of us could fly, so we did. It felt kind of weird flying in formation like we were. I tried to see from the other's faces how they were feeling, but they were all stony and unreadable. Me, I was a mess of worried and upset and regretful. I didn't even have any specific reasons why anymore. Karin-sama and Yajirobe were waiting for us when we got there. Karin-sama twisted his paws nervously. It was the first time I'd ever really seen him genuinely afraid about anything, as opposed to his usual cryptic and distant demeanor.

"Ah, my," he said, "Such a turnout. You're all very strong... Yamucha, Kuririn, you've improved so much..."

"We aren't strong enough for what's coming, Karin-sama," said Yamucha. "That's why we're here."

It was weird seeing someone who looked exactly like a cat sweat so much. "Yes, yes, of course... Well, I shouldn't delay you any longer. The Lookout is straight up from here, you can't miss it. Good Luck."

Some of us started up toward the lookout. Karin-sama looked as if he might be sick as he watched us. Yajirobe still couldn't fly, and he had to climb up Goku's Nyoi-bo, which still connected the Tower to the Lookout. I felt like I ought to try to say something comforting to Karin-sama. "I swear that we'll do all that we can," I said steadily.

He looked off into the distance instead of looking at me. "Oh, I know..." he said. "I'm just afraid that that won't be enough... no, not nearly enough..."

We were greeted by Kami-sama and his servant, Mr. Popo, at the lookout. Kami still looked like Piccolo. Mr. Popo is an odd-looking man who's served all of the Earth's Kamis for a long time. He isn't human, but I'm not sure exactly what else he is. We lined up in front of them, and we got an opening talk of sorts from Kami-sama. It was deadly serious. He told us that we all already knew why we'd been gathered there, so he wouldn't waste precious time explaining that. "Know only that the Saiyans are a deadly threat that will take all of the courage and strength we can manage to defeat," he said. He also explained that Goku was training with the lord of worlds, Kaiô-sama, in the afterlife. Kaiô-sama is such a high-ranking position that even a Kami never gets to see him.

"For the next several months, I will be training you," Kami-sama said. "You all have astounding potential, and I will draw as much strength out of you as I can manage."

"So, you're going to give us training like Goku got?" said Yamucha.

"No. Your training will be much tougher."

Yamucha froze. I was pretty taken aback myself. I remembered how amazing Goku had been after training with Kami-sama. Kami-sama paced a bit, and then turned to us again and went on, very gravely. "These Saiyans are stronger than you can possibly imagine. Countless worlds have been massacred by them. The one that came before was weak compared to those that are on their way. Understand how difficult our task is."

We all nodded. He didn't have to tell us twice.

"As grave as our situation is, I must ask all of you to leave all feelings of doubt or regret behind now. If you are not focused, my training will do no good. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," we all said. Yajirobe grunted. I tried to do as he said and clear my mind of emotion. It wasn't easy.

"Good," said Kami-sama, and he smiled. "You may not believe me now, but I can tell that there is a truly awesome power hidden within some of you." I swear I saw him look directly at me for an instant. "If we can tap into even a small fraction of that power, I know that we can succeed. It will not be easy. We start now."

Whew. What a note to start out on. We all knew what was at stake, and we were diligent and did whatever we could. Well, everyone except for Yajirobe. He mostly ate and sat around a lot when he was supposed to be training. Kami-sama's training started by having us sit completely still and attempt to clear our souls. I'm still not sure exactly what that was supposed to mean, but I wasn't going to complain. It was during that excercise that I first realized the ability to sense ki. I say "realized the ability" instead of "learned" because it just kind of came to me. It was like a light switch had been thrown. I cried out a little in shock from all the new information my senses were giving me. I didn't understand any of it, it was just disorienting. Chaozu came up to me and asked if I was okay, and I just stared at him. Something seemed different about Chaozu. Then, I realized that it wasn't really him that was different, it was how I was looking at him. I saw Chaozu just as normally as before, but I could also sense him. I felt his presence, and I could sense his strength. It wasn't like a scouter, a numerical display, but I could sense that he was weaker than me. Soon, I realized that I could sense everyone there. Somehow, I knew without even looking which ki belonged to which person, and I could tell exactly where they were without even looking. I found that if I concentrated, I could sense a great strength, Piccolo, far away, and a lesser one, Muten Roshi, in the other direction. It was just awesome. When I tried, awestruck, to explain to the others what I was feeling, they just laughed. "Oh, you're sensing ki for the first time," they said. I guess that Yamucha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu had all realized that ability already. I was kind of embarrassed. I'd been acting like I was seeing something that no one had ever seen before.

Sensing ki is impossible to explain to anyone who never has done so themselves. It would be like trying to explain sight to someone who's been blind from birth. All I can say is that it's as vivid as any of the senses, and it's always there. It took a long time for me to get used to it. It isn't just knowing where someone is and how strong they are, like a scouter. To a certain extent, you can feel the emotions of someone whose ki you're sensing. You can tell whether they're calm or angry, whether they're hurt or dying, and whether they're surpressing their power or attacking. It can be pretty unnerving sometimes. Sensing ki can even hurt. I actually feel physical pain when someone powers up over a certain amount. It washes over you like a wave.

After that incident, we recieved our weighted clothing. That stuff is really uncomfortable. It must weigh 250 pounds. At first, it was a struggle just to move, so we did basic strength training until we got used to the extra weight. It wasn't easy, and we were exhausted a lot. We were never allowed to remove the weighted clothing. Eventually, we got to the point where we could move almost as easily with them on as we had before without them. Then we really started training. At first, we all had to fight Mr. Popo, who is much stronger than he looks. Early on in the training, Kami-sama was always right there, telling us exactly what we had to do, but later on he would only walk around the lookout and supervise as we trained ourselves and sparred with each other. We worked really hard. It wasn't uncommon for one of us to collapse from exhaustion only to be back up and training twenty minutes later. At night, we ate and rested. Kami-sama had extremely good food up at the Lookout. During that time we'd socialize, something we didn't do much while actually training, and try to forget about our troubles. We'd talk about the training itself, how our friends might be doing back home, and other things. I talked mostly to Yamucha because he was already my friend and because all of the others were pretty inaccessable.

One night, I recall Yamucha being more profound than usual. He looked straight up at the stars.

"Hard to believe what's coming from out there, isn't it..."

"Yeah," I said.

"It's funny how differently I look at life now. If I make it through this, I want to do something with more meaning..."

I kind of felt the same way. It's strange how you only really appreciate life when it's threatened. "Hey, Yamucha, at least you've done something, not like me. You're famous."

"Ehh... baseball is silly. It doesn't mean much." He sighed. "I just hope that I can see Pu'ar again. And Bulma. She annoys me to death, but I want to see her again really badly."

I tried to reassure Yamucha, but I just couldn't bring myself to. I felt too much sorrow and regret myself. I hoped so much that we'd live.

Six months passed, and we trained and got much stronger. As time went on, we started to gain a kind of cautious confidence. However, I think that I was a bit more unsure than the others because of something that'd happened about four and a half months into our training. We were training normally. Tenshinhan and Chaozu were sparring, and suddenly I felt Chaozu's power rise violently, making him much stronger. Everyone noticed this, but I think I'm the only one who felt something else when that happened. I felt Chaozu hit a wall. I don't know how I knew it, but I knew right then that he'd hit his limit. I was right, too. The rest of us kept getting stronger, but Chaozu never got any more powerful than he was that day. Everyone has a limit - a point where, no matter what kind of training someone follows, they simply can't get any stronger without transforming somehow. Humans don't really have a transformation that I'm aware of, so we're pretty much out of luck when this happens. I think that Chaozu's limit is about the limit of any strong, healthy human, no matter what kind of training they recieve. I can't really explain why the rest of us got so much stronger than that, especially me. Maybe I'm a mutant or something. I don't know.

After we'd trained for about six months, Kami-sama released us to train on our own. "I leave the future to you," he said. That was a heavy weight to bear. We went through Karin tower on the way back down, and Karin-sama remarked on how strong we'd gotten and wished us luck. I noted that he still looked just as nervous as before, though. I couldn't believe that he was still that nervous after how much our strength had increased. I wondered, could the Saiyans really be that powerful?

Yamucha and I returned to the Kame House after leaving the tower. I was kind of surprised to find that Bulma, Pu'ar, and Oolong were all living there. I'm not quite sure why they decided to do that. They already had a better home at Capsule Corp HQ. They were excited to see us. Bulma wanted to take our power levels, so we both powered up and let her read it. Yamucha just cleared 1000 and I was around 1150. They were really awed and excited by how powerful we'd gotten. I was pretty happy about it myself, but we knew that we were still nowhere near the Saiyans' level. We hung out at the Kame House for a few days, which was nice. I'd gotten awfully tired of seeing the same six people all the time. We had to leave before too long, though; Kami-sama had told us to continue training, and we knew that we had a very long way to go in six months if we wanted to stand a chance against the Saiyans. So, Yamucha and I left again and isolated ourselves. We could have stayed together, but we thought it would be better for us to try training alone for a change: We'd already sparred with each other about as much as we could stand. I found a stretch of jungle somewhere and I isolated myself there for a long time, probably almost five months. The time tended to blur when I was all by myself like that. I got my own food, mostly fruit and fish because I felt terrible cutting down creatures with ki blasts, and I kept training. I thought about the Saiyans a lot. I wanted to be prepared so badly. To that end, I decided to try and develop an attack that was extremely powerful, as powerful as I could make it. I started experimenting with ki blasts again and I ended up with something called the Kakusandan. The Kakusandan is an enormous blast that's also very slow. Almost anyone can and will dodge it. However, that's when I suddenly flip the blast in the air, and split it into multiple blasts that all seek targets. That took me two months to perfect. I hoped that it would work against the Saiyans because it was powerful and would catch them off guard. I still wasn't satisfied, though, and as the time went on, I became frustrated that I couldn't become powerful enough. I fretted about that for a while, and then I remembered the Choshinsui: Karin-sama's godly tea. When Goku drank it, he'd become much stronger. I turned it down before because it was too dangerous, but these were more serious circumstances. I headed to Karin Tower almost as soon as I thought of it and told Karin-sama what I wanted to do. Yajirobe said that I was insane, but Karin-sama thought about it.

"It's true that you still aren't nearly powerful enough... the Choshinsui might help, but it's very dangerous..."

"Please, Karin-sama," I said, "You have to let me drink it. I have to be stronger than this to fight the Saiyans."

"You don't have to do this," he said. "You might not survive."

"I want to do it," I said, well aware that I was taking my life into my hands and nervous as hell. A lot of good I'd be in the fight against the Saiyans if I killed myself trying to drink some bad tea. But when I thought about going back and just being as frustrated as ever again, I decided that I had to go through with it. Karin-sama brought the stuff out in a rather ordinary kettle and poured it for me. It was black and foul. I drank it.

It hurts me now just THINKING about the Choshinsui. It was like swallowing rotating razor blades. I felt sicker than I'd ever felt and in excruciating pain. I fell to the ground almost immediately and clutched at my throat, just trying to fight the urge to throw the stuff up. I was in terrible, terrible pain for several hours. When it was over, I think my power actually had increased a good bit, but it wasn't worth it. I hope I never see that stuff again for as long as I live.  
It wasn't long after that when the Saiyans came to Earth. That's a big story to tell, so I'll stop for now here.

--END OF CHAPTER THIRTEEN--


	14. The Saiyans

~Chapter 14: The Saiyans~  
  
I've been through a lot. I've seen foes that destroy entire planets. I've seen friends die and myself been slain. I've had enemies with unbelievable power. Through it all, however, the battle against the Saiyans is still what I remember the most. It's still the one that comes back to me in my dreams.   
  
It was late in the morning on November 3rd, 762, when the Saiyans hit Earth. I felt it when they landed. I wasn't anywhere near them, but the mere presence of their enormous power hit me like a bright lamp shined in my eyes. I knew immediately what had happened. It filled me with fear and even a kind of excitement. The day that I'd spent the past year in fear of and in preperation for had finally come. I'd already suspected that since the sky had gotten dark earlier that day, meaning that Goku had returned to life. My heart was racing. I felt an even larger surge of ki shortly after their landing. That was probably their initial attack on Earth. Right upon landing, they unleashed a blast that utterly destroyed East Capital City, killing hundreds of thousands of people in the blink of an eye. I did think it was odd that all of the smaller ki surrounding them suddenly vanished, but I had no idea...  
  
I felt them moving toward two large sources of ki - one of them felt like Piccolo, although it was much more powerful than I'd ever known Piccolo to be. I took off my weighted clothing and headed there too. It wasn't far from my location, so before long I found the source that I was looking for. Sure enough, it was Piccolo, and with him was a kid who also had a lot of power, obviously Gohan. I landed right next to them. At first, they thought I was a Saiyan, but Piccolo recognized me. Piccolo and I traded verbal jabs. As nervous as we were, we felt a kind of confidence. I guess it came from how much our power had increased. Of course, that power increase was nothing compared to what would come. If I'd been as powerful as I am now when Nappa and Vegeta came to Earth, I could have handled them both alone without any trouble. That's to say nothing of how powerful Gohan has gotten.   
  
Back on subject, though, I also had the chance to talk to Gohan a little. He looked very different than he had when I'd seen him over a year previously, both physically and in attitude. It reminded me of Goku when we'd been kids. He recognized me after being reminded, and he seemed excited that I'd be helping him fight. Apparently Goku had spoken fondly of me to his son, which was nice of him, but he'd also used the word "short" a lot. Argh. I also started to pick up the hint from Gohan that Piccolo wasn't quite so evil anymore, but before we could get any deeper into it, the Saiyans arrived. I felt almost swept over by their ki. It felt not only strong, but evil, almost demonic. It made me nauseated. They landed in front of us and we did our best to face them. One of them was large, bald, and muscular, and the other one was smaller(still taller than me - isn't everyone?) and looked confidently smug. Both of them wore the same strange armor that Raditz had worn. For a while, we just stood there and faced each other. We did our best to look formidable.   
  
The saiyans seemed amused with us. They obviously knew that we were much, much stronger than the normal inhabitants of Earth, but still far weaker than them. I think that the term they used to describe us was "mighty ants". That's appropriate, I suppose - it was more or less what I felt like. The Saiyans called each other by name a lot, so we quickly learned who they were. The big one was Nappa and the smaller one was Vegeta. Nappa was loud and rough and he talked a lot of trash, but from his manner toward Vegeta it was obvious that Vegeta was more powerful and in fact had Nappa utterly in his thrall. They talked about Raditz for a bit.  
  
"Looks like that one is a Namekian," said Vegeta. "It isn't so strange that Raditz was beaten, then." Nappa nodded in agreement. The revelation that Piccolo, too, was an alien came as a shock to all of us, especially Piccolo himself. I admit that I never really thought he was human, so it made sense, but it was surprising nonetheless. I was even more surprised, though, when they went on to reveal that they knew about the dragon balls. That was the real reason that they came to Earth, according to Nappa. "Why else would we bother with this dump?" he said. "Hand them over!" Piccolo refused and took a fighting stance, and the battle had been initiated. I took a stance and raised my ki, but I didn't power up all they way. I heard Nappa read our power levels - all around 1000, but it wasn't our maximum. Vegeta was a bit smarter than Nappa, though, and he seemed to realize that we weren't showing our true power. For effect, he tossed his scouter aside.   
  
Nappa followed his lead. "You're right, Vegeta," he said, "That pathetic weakling Raditz probably got himself killed by relying on the scouter's numbers." Suddenly, we were petrified. "Weakling"? How strong were they, that they would consider Raditz, who had beaten up Goku and Piccolo together, a weakling? I could feel my sense of hope starting to slip away...  
  
Vegeta, who seemed to be having a great time, suggested that they should test our power. Nappa produced a small vial filled with some tiny seeds that he said were for 'Saibamen'. He put them in the ground and covered them over slightly, then sprinkled some water on them. Almost immediately, creatures began to emerge from the ground. They looked disgusting and alien and fearsome, and I could feel their tremendous power. There were six of them. It was terrible to think that they could produce such creatures just by sticking some seeds in the ground. They started to advance on us, but stopped as we all sensed strong kis approaching. Tenshinhan and Chaozu landed near us, and Yamucha came right after them. They joined the line with Gohan, Piccolo and I. I felt hope return. The six of us, standing there and facing the aliens, were the Earth's defense. There's a pride in defending an entire planet, and it was definitely present in us. We felt strong, and I thought that maybe we could actually stand a chance of winning, especially with Goku still on his way. It's always better to die feeling optimistic, right?  
  
Vegeta, noticing that there were six of us, suggested that we fight the Saibamen one at a time, one-on-one, for a game. Piccolo got really angry at this suggestion, but I made him calm down. I think that we were all angered by the fact that, with the fate of the world on the line, they wanted to play games, but I realized that it might actually save us. The more we delayed the actual fight, the more time Goku would have to arrive. The Saiyans were far stronger than we were that day. Even when Goku did finally arrive, he was weaker than Vegeta by quite a bit. The only thing that saved our lives that day was arrogance. The Saiyans didn't even consider the possibility of losing, and overconfidence like that has brought about the fall of many strong men.   
  
Tenshinhan was the first to fight one of the Saibamen. He handled the creature easily. The Saibaman did try a really weird attack on him, though - its head actually opened up and squirted out an acid that sprayed so far that I had to dodge it. It was nasty stuff - it dug a trench in the ground. Before long, though, Tenshinhan had the creature down. Our unexpected power seemed to make Nappa nervous, but Vegeta only seemed entertained. I heard Nappa mumur something about the Saibamen each being as strong as Raditz, which shows you that all of our training really did make us much stronger. We started congratulating Tenshinhan, but the thing started to get back up. Tenshinhan prepared to face it again, but suddenly Vegeta extended two fingers and the Saibaman just exploded. It turned inside-out. It was terrible to see. I just felt so disgusted, so filled with contempt for anyone who would do that to someone on their own side. All of us were shocked and horrified, and even Nappa seemed taken aback by Vegeta's cruelty.  
  
"Vegeta.... why?" he said.  
  
Vegeta just smiled at him, the most terrible smile I'd ever seen, and said that it would have been pointless to continue because the thing was already beaten. It seemed barely worth a thought to him, and the Saibamen were almost as strong as we were. We all started to realize just then just how horrible our situation was. I started to step forward to fight the next one, but Yamucha stopped me. He said that he would do it. I couldn't understand why Yamucha wanted to go instead of me. We both knew that I was the stronger of us two. I scanned Yamucha's eyes for a reason.  
  
He spoke privately to me. "You've already been brought back by the dragon balls," he said. "You don't get another chance." Bless him, he was looking out for me. He stepped forward with an almost cocky gait and dared the Saibaman to attack him, and they engaged. They began to move so quickly that it was impossible to follow them with your eyes. As an observer of fights like that, you have to feel them instead of seeing them. After a while, it feels almost the same. Yamucha had more trouble than Tenshinhan, but he beat the thing and finished it off with a Kamehameha, imbedding it in the dirt. He landed, and he started to say something to us, when the Saibaman suddenly leapt onto him and clung to him. Yamucha didn't even have time to struggle before he was swallowed up in an explosion. The thing self-destructed. It was so unexpected and horrifying... it felt like I died along with Yamucha. When the smoke cleared, it was still raining parts of the Saibaman, and I could see Yamucha lying in the dirt. I was the only one who ran to him. I knelt by his side and felt him. He was dead, just like that. He'd only been with us for a couple of minutes, and he'd already been slaughtered like some animal. I felt my anger begin to build up. He'd taken the hit for me. He'd known that something like that was going to happen, so he took it in my place. I felt so angry that I could burst. How could this have happened? How could I break this to Pu'ar, and Bulma... despite all her act, I knew that Bulma cared about Yamucha, and little Pu'ar adored Yamucha so much, to think of how she would react to his death just broke my heart. I also thought of what Yamucha'd said to me at the lookout. He was a good man, I thought, with hopes and dreams and people who loved him, and now he was gone. I couldn't even think that we could bring him back with the dragon balls, because Piccolo was fighting with us and he was as likely to die as anyone. For a while I couldn't do anything but just sit there and fume.  
  
Vegeta grinned at me. "Pick up your trash, little man," he said sarcastically.  
  
Never, ever in my life, before or since, have I ever been so completely consumed by rage. I rose slowly to my feet. My teeth were clenched so hard that it hurt, tears were frozen in my eyes, and I could feel a vein bulging on my forehead. I stared at the Saiyans with the most intense look of hatred I could conjure. In that moment, I didn't even care about the Earth anymore. I wanted vengance. I wanted retribution. Those filthy Saiyan bastards were going to pay. I wanted to kill them. I remembered the Kakusandan. I'd developed it specifically for destruction. Then seemed like the appropriate time.  
  
I shot the Kakusandan at them, putting so much energy into it that I might have fainted if I hadn't been driven by rage. It was an enormous blast, and all of my friends got as far away as they could. The Saibamen tried to do the same. The Saiyans didn't move. I directed the blast into the air and it exploded there and seperated into smaller blasts, one for each target, just like I'd practiced. The blasts hit the two Saiyans and the four Saibamen, except for one that managed to escape. The explosions were pretty sizable and threw up a lot of dust. The Saibamen that were hit were all reduced to pieces. That was the first time that I ever really took a life, but not the last. For a moment, I almost felt better. Creating explosions really takes the agression out of you quickly. Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Gohan were really excited, they thought that I'd won the battle. If only it could have been that easy.   
  
The Saibaman that I missed tried to attack Gohan, but Piccolo zipped in front of it. He grabbed it, punched it, and then threw it into the air and wiped it out with a single blast even more powerful than my Kakusandan. It was pretty shocking, but for a moment I paused to think - had Piccolo just saved Gohan's life? It began to occur to me that something might have changed in Piccolo in the time that he'd been training Gohan. I didn't have very long to think about it, though, because that's when Vegeta and Nappa emerged from the cloud of dust. They were completely unharmed. My Kakusandan had barely even managed to get them dirty. It was just unbelievable. I'd used my full power, and they weren't affected at all. Nappa said that he'd kill us all himself, and Vegeta agreed. That's arrogance saving us again there. Nappa was far stronger than us, but we could barely manage to present him with somewhat of a challenge. If Vegeta had fought us from the start... Well, it would have been no contest. Nappa began to power up. As he did, we were just swept over by the extent of it. We'd never thought that it would be so much... Finally, I understood the horrible truth of what Saiyans really were. They were terrifying. They were invincible.  
  
I hate the Saiyans. I just have to say it, I'd be lying if I said otherwise. It isn't the individual Saiyans that I hate - after all, Goku is a Saiyan, and even Vegeta has proven that he has the capacity to be a good person. But the race itself - Saiyans have the ability to become infinitely powerful. That's just wrong, and it terrifies me. Also, they have that terrible instinct - the warrior instinct, they call it. It's disgusting. I've seen it make Goku, the most heroic and noble person I've ever had the honor of knowing, arrogantly and callously endanger innocent lives for the sake of sport. Fortunately, that instinct doesn't seem to be present in non-pure Saiyans - all of the half and quarter-Saiyans I know exhibit no such tendencies, and they're good people. I'm certainly not one of those crazy people who have been on about this ridiculous anti-Saiyan campaign lately, "Earth for Humans" and all that rubbish. Still, I'm glad that Frieza massacred the original race of Saiyans. It's a terrible thing to say. It feels like a black mark on my soul to feel that way, but I mean it. It's wrong of me, but I can't help myself - I'm glad they're dead. I'm really sorry to anyone that that offends.  
  
By the time Nappa was finished powering up, he was surrounded by a crackling yellow energy. It was the first 'ki flare' - a visible flame-like aura - that we'd ever seen. His was small and weak compared to others we'd see, but it was enough to instill great fear in us. He was so much more powerful than us that I felt like a fool for ever believing that we had a chance. The only chance we had left was that Goku had gotten very powerful and that he'd get there to help us. Where was Goku?  
  
Nappa screamed and charged at Tenshinhan. We all tried to stop him, but he was too fast. He swung a punch at Tenshinhan, and he tried to oppose the blow, but it was hopeless. Tenshinhan's hand was taken straight off. I'm serious, It came off clean from just a punch. Tenshinhan screamed and blood came spurting out of the wound. "So this is it," I thought, "This is the end." Nappa tried to strike the death blow to Tenshinhan, but he barely managed to fly out of the way. Nappa just flew after him and pounded him down to the ground. I couldn't stand to watch anymore. I ran to help Tenshinhan, but Nappa laughed and flung a blast at me that threw me aside. I was lucky to escape being blown to pieces. The blast made a hole so deep that you couldn't see the bottom. It's still there today, over 24 years later.   
  
After I recovered, I looked around - someone was missing. I couldn't see Chaozu anywhere. At first I thought that he'd been caught in the blast, but then I heard shouting. I looked up and found that he was clinging to Nappa. The clinging reminded me of how the Saibaman had clung to Yamucha. Oh, lord. I realized what he was going to do. I heard Tenshinhan scream, "Chaozu! No! You can't!", but he did. Chaozu exploded. To see Tenshinhan's eyes... I don't think that there's any greater pain than that. It's probably how I would feel if someone killed 18. Just indescribable pain. The worst of all was that Nappa was completely unharmed. Chaozu had given his life for nothing. The despair just seemed to increase with every passing second. Of us all, only Piccolo managed to keep his wits about him. He had turned out to be our leader in a way. He related a quick plan to me. I still didn't trust Piccolo - hell, that's an understatement, I hated him - but at that point, I was ready to do anything he told me.   
  
We carried out Piccolo's plan as Nappa charged at Tenshinhan again, a confrontation that we knew could only end in Tenshinhan's death. Before he could get to him, Piccolo came up at Nappa's side and hit him hard, sending him over to where I was waiting. He came flying at me, and I hit him with all of the strength that I had, sending him flying toward Gohan. The plan called for Gohan to fire a ki blast at him then while he was disoriented, but Gohan froze. He was paralyzed by fear. The poor kid, he was only five years old. Piccolo and I tried to make up for it by firing our own blasts at Nappa, but by that time he'd recovered and he dodged them. Our assault had injured him slightly, and he came at us to attack, but Tenshinhan tried the last trick he had and fired his best Kikouhou at Nappa. The force of the blast was enormous, and it blew Piccolo and I aside. That one actually managed to hurt Nappa a bit - some of his armor had broken off, and he was bleeding - but not much. Tenshinhan had put his entire life force into the blast, and although I was far away, I saw him die. He lived just long enough to see that Nappa was unharmed, and I saw him give up hope just before he fell to the ground. First Yamucha, then Chaozu, now Tenshinhan. Who was next? Probably me, I figured. It was a nightmare. All of the training we'd done, all of our hopes, all of the Earth's best - it was for nothing. We were all dying, and it was happening so very quickly. I screamed aloud for Goku to arrive. I fully expected to die within the next few moments.  
  
Nappa came flying at Piccolo and I. Futile as it seemed, we prepared to try our best to fight him. Before anything could happen, though, Vegeta told him to stop. We all stared at him in utter confusion.  
  
Nappa was like an impatient child. "B-but... Vegeta!"  
  
"What's your hurry? I just want to ask them something," Vegeta said, and he turned and faced us. "This 'Son Goku' that you keep calling desperately for - is that Kakarotto?"  
  
"Y-yeah..." I managed.  
  
Vegeta smiled in disbelief, and he actually started laughing. "Your only hope is Kakarotto? He couldn't even beat Raditz! What good is he?" That got us going. All three of us launched into a furious testament to how strong Goku had become, and how he'd arrive and defeat them. Vegeta was so amused by our faith that he said they'd stop and wait for three hours for Goku to arrive. Chalk one more up for arrogance there. Nappa was so infuriated that he almost attacked us anyway, but when Vegeta yelled again he stopped dead in his tracks and whimpered out an apology. Obviously we'd been right before - Vegeta's power far outstripped that of Nappa. I shuddered at the thought.  
  
Three hours crawled by agonizingly. The saiyans sat off to the side and talked about something I didn't really catch. Piccolo chewed Gohan out for freezing earlier. I wanted to run, or fight, or do anything but just sit and wait to die. I kept watching the skies, hoping that Goku would come and save us. Yet, I kept hearing something that the Saiyans had said echoing over in my head - "If you're so sure he's coming, where is he?" I was beginning to wonder that myself. I know now that he was probably traveling down the Snake Road, which according to legend is 1,000,000 kilometers long, so I guess the delay is understandable. Three hours gave me a lot of time to reflect, perhaps more than I'd have liked. The deaths of my friends, especially Yamucha, kept playing over again in my head. I started to see myself in those same visions. To distract myself, I tried to scan the faces of the others to see what they were feeling. The Saiyans seemed to be having a grand time. Gohan was frightened, but he still seemed determined to win. Piccolo was anxious, but also determined. He'd undergone quite a metamorphosis - The Great Demon Piccolo was now Piccolo, Defender of the Earth.  
  
As long as they seemed, the three hours came to an end. Vegeta declared Kakarotto to be a coward, and Nappa began to approach us. I felt like I was commiting suicide. Piccolo had one more plan, though - While I distracted Nappa, Piccolo would grab his tail. If he could do that, then Gohan could attack and destroy Nappa. I'd forgotten about the whole tail thing. We did seem to have some small hope left. The plan seemed to go pretty well. I distracted Nappa with a Double Tsuihikidan, and Piccolo got ahold of his tail. However, that's when things went wrong. Having his tail squeezed didn't seem to weaken Nappa at all, and he hit Piccolo, who fell like a ton of bricks. It was then that I really despaired. It felt as if all of the fight had left me. It seemed like there was really nothing left but to lay down and die.  
  
--END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN-- 


	15. The Hopes Of A Planet

~Chapter 15:The Hopes Of A Planet~  
  
I felt as if all of my body had just gone numb as I saw Piccolo fall, unconscious, to the ground after only one hit from Nappa. I couldn't move; I was just that terrified. I watched helplessly as Nappa advanced on Gohan. Gohan looked so small and helpless, and even more terrified than me. Nappa kicked him - an enormous kick, with force like you wouldn't believe. I could hear it hit him. It would have torn Gohan apart but for the fact that he kind of rode the kick, since Nappa's foot was almost the size of his entire body. He was launched up into the air and Nappa hit him again, so hard that he crashed into a cliff that must have been a quarter of a mile away. What a terrible sight that was. Gohan hit the ground hard, and then - I could scarcely believe it - he actually got back up. Man, that kid was tough. Nappa showed no mercy, charging at Gohan again.   
  
Time seemed to slow down for me in that moment. I was still paralyzed by fear. I wanted to wake up and have it all be a dream. I was so afraid to die. Then, though, I saw Nappa, the unstoppable powerhouse, charging at Gohan. Gohan looked defenseless. If I didn't do something, he would die. It felt like it was too late to save anything, but all the same, I couldn't just stand by and watch that happen. He was only a child... the child of Goku, I reminded myself. Now, I've never claimed to be brave. I have a bit more courage than, say, Yajirobe, but I'm really not a hero. Somehow, though, I found the courage and the strength right then to throw myself into Nappa's path. I kicked him as hard as I could, and then punched him - I slammed my forearm against his huge mass of muscle - while he was off-balance. It worked well enough. The blow sent him flying, and I tried to go after him to press the advantage, but Nappa really was a very good fighter, and he managed somehow to right himself and come back at me. I just barely had the speed to avoid being beaten to less than a pulp. I felt pretty grateful for the boost I'd gotten from the Choshinsui right about then. Still, I figured that that dodge bought me a few seconds at best before he killed me. I still had one attack left that I knew could hurt Nappa. I did a few flips to put some distance between us, and prepared myself for it. He was coming right at me, so I hoped - no, I prayed - that he wouldn't dodge it.   
  
"Kienzan!" I shouted. Okay, so I didn't really have to shout it. I was in the moment.  
  
To my astonishment, Nappa didn't even try to dodge the disc. I guess he thought that it would bounce off of him, or something. It would've taken his head straight off, except that Vegeta had the presence of mind to tell him to duck. Instead, it only cut his face and went on to demolish a cliff nearby. Damn. Nappa was extremely angry at being cut. He howled and hurled an enormous bolt of ki at me. I managed to fly upward and dodge it, but just the force of its explosion knocked the wind out of me. He would've finished me off except that that's when Piccolo managed to regain consciousness and blast him. I fell forty-five feet to the ground. I was pretty helpless after that. The impact hurt very badly, but it didn't knock me out. I was in so much pain that I couldn't even sense ki anymore. I could barely see.  
  
There was a break in the fighting then. Piccolo and the Saiyans were talking excitedly about something, but I didn't catch a word of it. I was putting all of my concentration into trying to stand up. I managed to roll over onto my stomach, and the amount of agony that that caused me let me know that I wasn't standing any time soon. I kept trying, though. I had to get up, I kept saying to myself, I had to fight... What was I worth if I couldn't fight any more? Vegeta and Nappa chattered on. I managed to pick the word "Kakarrotto" in their conversation. Was Goku coming? I could hardly allow myself to hope for that much. But then I heard Vegeta say something of great interest. I think that I was the only one that heard him. He said,  
  
"So, it's true that there are balls on Namek that can grant wishes... I never believed the legend, but it's true!"  
  
I didn't know why just then, but what he'd said felt very important. I made sure to commit it to memory. My sight returned, and I could see them facing off again. Nappa was going to charge yet again, and this time meant disaster. This time, there was no one left to prevent the worst from happening. I was overcome by the feeling that something indescribably horrible was about to happen, and I felt so much frustration at the fact that I couldn't move... I couldn't do anything to stop it from happening. Nappa charged one more time, and I was surprised that Gohan himself managed to oppose him and kick him into a cliff. More angry than ever, Nappa reared back and prepared to launch another blast like the one that had taken me out of the fight. Gohan seemed too frightened even to dodge it. It seemed like my fear was finally happening - Gohan was going to be killed. As the blast shot toward him, though, I saw someone running desperately into its path. I couldn't believe my eyes; it was Piccolo. He set himself in front of it and took the full brunt of the whole blast. It unleashed all of its terrible energy into him, but he stood firm somehow. When the smoke cleared, Piccolo stood there still, shielding Gohan. He trembled and fell to the ground.  
  
I watched in horror and confusion as Gohan ran in tears to Piccolo's side. I could not believe what I had seen, that Piccolo had sacrificed himself to save him. I had no idea how attached Piccolo had become to Gohan in the time that they trained together. Something in Piccolo had changed, and yet... When I think about it, he probably had it in him all along. No one had ever given Piccolo, the Demon King, The Great Incorruptable Evil, half of a chance. I certainly hadn't. It took the innocence of a child to break through that wall, and I suppose the desperate circumstances didn't hurt. I don't know if this is going to sound sappy or clichèd, but I think that everyone can be good if given the chance. And everyone deserves a chance. I watched Piccolo die with great regret, and a certain amount of shame. I felt badly for mistrusting him. Piccolo had made some mistakes, but it seemed to me that he was more noble than I'd ever be.   
  
Gohan stayed by Piccolo while he was dying. He cried a lot and begged him not to die. Watching him, I realized something I hadn't before - he'd actually come to love Piccolo. Something changed in Gohan's face after Piccolo died. He stood up and screamed in rage and agony, and I felt his ki surge. It went up way, way beyond what I'd thought Gohan's maximum was. It wasn't a normal strong ki, either - to me, this ki felt brief and inconstant, but most of all it felt painful. It hurt. Gohan is - well, I don't know what you'd call it. When he gets mad - and I don't mean peeved, I mean real rage here - it gives him tremendous strength. Gohan isn't a dangerous person. Normally, he wouldn't hurt a fly. It isn't easy to get him that mad. The only thing that seems to do it is hurting someone that he loves. When that happens, though... Well, you don't want to be in his way. Gohan concentrated his rage into a Masenko - the same Kamehameha-like blast that Piccolo had used so much at the 23rd tournament - and directed it, and all of his pain and anger, at Nappa. Gohan's Masenko tore through the air toward Nappa like a rocket, like some kind of unstoppable force. Nappa stood firm, raised an arm, and deflected the blast.   
  
I couldn't believe it. He'd deflected the blast. All that for nothing. That one blast was all that poor Gohan had in him. I felt his ki waver - his power level must have been below 1. He didn't have enough strength left to walk. And me, I still couldn't move.   
  
"So this is it," I thought to myself, "It's all over." I'd thought the same before on that day, but this time it really felt like it. The Saiyans were just too strong. All of our preparation, all of our hard work and sacrifice, everything we'd done, and we couldn't even manage to defeat Nappa. That Masenko had been the Earth's last shot, and Nappa deflected it. Gohan sank to his knees. Nappa slowly approached Gohan, each step sounding like a minature earthquake, and raised his boot above Gohan's head. Since I didn't want Gohan's skeleton being crushed to be my final mortal sight, I shut my eyes as tightly as I could and waited for the end to come.  
  
...  
  
Remember when I mentioned Goku's Nick of Time Syndrome? You do? Good. Guess what happened next.  
  
When I opened my eyes again, I found to my great surprise that Gohan was not brutally crushed against the ground, but on a Kinto'un several yards away. I felt something approaching from the sky. Strong ki. Big, weighted boots. Orange gi. Spiky black hair. Yes, that would be Goku. I was so happy that it hurt. I was trembling all over.  
  
The Saiyans were markedly unimpressed with Goku. He seemed very quiet and solemn... He already had an order of things he wanted to do in his mind, I think. First, he looked around at the results of our struggle. He saw the dead bodies of Piccolo, Yamucha and Tenshinhan. I could feel his ki and his anger rising with each. Still, he remained very calm and quiet as he proceeded to come to where I was lying. Nappa tried to attack him, but I doubt he even noticed. That wasn't in his plan.   
  
"I'm sorry I'm late," was the first thing he said to me. Hoo boy. He handed me a senzu bean, split in half. It was the last one, he said. At first, I didn't want to take it. I felt so worthless. I felt like I didn't deserve to be healed, as if it had been up to me all along and I'd failed somehow by letting so many die. Goku wouldn't be denied, though, so I swallowed my half a senzu. It didn't restore all of my energy, but it did well enough. I stood up, feeling kind of giddy. To be honest, I still felt pretty badly about our chances. Goku seemed strong, but the Saiyans were just so powerful... All the same, though, I couldn't stop myself from hoping. After all, Goku was back, and he always seemed to bring all the hope with him.  
  
Goku complimented me on how much stronger I'd gotten and how well I had done holding out. I didn't want to accept those compliments. I didn't feel very good about myself. I felt weak and stupid and cowardly and worthless, and like I was no good to anyone. Yamucha, my friend, was dead. The brave Tenshinhan, and his strange friend Chaozu who was even braver in his own way, were both dead. Even Piccolo - we'd never known what we had in Piccolo, I thought - was dead, and with him Kami-sama and the dragon balls. None of our friends could ever be brought back to life. I said this, and Goku, Gohan(who'd eaten the other half of the senzu) and I stood there and just commiserated silently for a moment. It was a tough feeling, of a hurt that would only get deeper as time wore on and circumstances grew less dire. It seemed like the only thing left was retribution.  
  
"Let's avenge them," I said, clenching my fists, "The three of us. Goku, you trained under Kaiô-sama, the lord of the worlds, right?"  
  
"Yeah," said Goku, "But you two stay clear. I'll fight them alone."  
  
It took me a moment to process what I'd just heard. He... would fight the Saiyans, just the weaker of whom had managed with ease to defeat all of the Earth's best... by himself? No way. My first reaction was to get angry. Goku was pulling one of his dumb stunts again. There was no way in hell that I was going to let Goku go get himself killed like all the others. Gohan and I began telling him that he was insane and trying to talk him out of it. Then, however, something happened to me. Gohan kept trying desperately to talk his daddy out of risking his life, but I found myself unable to say anything at all. Goku stood there, towering above me, staring at the Saiyans, and I suddenly noticed how imposing he seemed. Just the sight of him standing there, facing the Saiyans, with a vein bulging out upon his forehead, made me feel kind of awed. I had never seen him so angry. I could feel his ki, too, boiling inside him. His rage was easily the equal of mine when Yamucha had died or Gohan's when Piccolo had died, but more concentrated and much more deadly. I actually became a little scared of him. I could see that he wanted us to not try to help him because he was afraid we'd be hurt, by him almost as likely as the Saiyans. And Goku himself was a Saiyan, wasn't he? I think that I just remembered that then.  
  
Before I even realized it, I was taking Gohan's arm rather roughly and saying to him, "Goku's right. We need to stay back." Gohan tried to run after Goku as he walked toward the Saiyans, but I held him back. There was no place for us in that battle anymore.  
  
Goku and Nappa faced off. Nappa spouted some juvenile taunts, but Goku didn't flinch. He said something threatening and started to power up. I couldn't believe the ki! As he powered up, the ground shook, and all around him little bits of debris started to float upward. I heard Vegeta read his power level as over 8000 on his scouter. Hearing this seemed to infuriate Nappa, and he charged at Goku, who still didn't flinch. The instant before he hit, Goku kicked him in the back. I didn't even see how he got behind him.   
  
Nappa was livid. "You... I'll kill you!" he shouted.  
  
"You talk a lot," said Goku, "but you don't back it up."  
  
Nappa screamed, powered up, and ran at Goku again, striking at him with an amazing rush of blows. He was suddenly fighting with a ferocity that he'd never had when fighting us. Goku only stood there and dodged everything without effort, not even moving much. Nappa put a lot of strength into one last punch, and by the time he'd thrown it, Goku was standing a good ten yards away in the opposite direction. It was insane. Goku danced circles around Nappa just to piss him off. At one point, he even stood on the Saiyan's head. It didn't matter what he did, Nappa couldn't lay a finger on him. I guess it might have been gratifying to watch Goku make a fool out of the monster that had made our existence hell for the past several hours. That's certainly what Goku was going for. But I only felt numb and a little faint. Soon, Goku tired of that and punched him hard in the stomach. He ducked another attack from Nappa and hit him again. Nappa threw another one of those blasts at him, exactly like the ones that had injured me and killed Piccolo. Goku didn't even dodge it - he blew it away with just ki alone. Goku rushed up to Nappa and hit him a few more times, finally hitting him so hard that he was driven straight into - and nearly halfway through - a nearby cliff. Nappa got right back up, bleeding profusely and howling with a terrifying voice in utter fury and frustration.  
  
I was smiling, suddenly. I had given up so long ago, but now it began to occur to me that we could still have a chance. I was still terrified, but I was kind of giddy at the same time. Gohan and I cheered Goku on in shaky, nervous voices.  
  
Vegeta shook Nappa out of his beastly howl with a shout of "Calm down, you idiot! He'll beat you if you lose your head!" To our surprise, Nappa actually did calm down. His confidence seemed to return, and his ki felt a lot more powerful than before. He used an attack on Goku that made a ridiculously large explosion that knocked me flat on my back, even as far away as I was standing. That attack felt very familiar - you know, I think that he used the same attack that reduced East Capital City to a field of rubble on Goku. Goku dodged it by flying upward, and I lost track of the battle after that. Hey, I have a very good memory, but I'm not a video camera. The next thing I recall is Vegeta ordering Nappa to retreat - he'd handle this himself. I wasn't sure whether to be glad that Nappa was finally defeated, or scared as hell. When Nappa got his second wind, Goku was having some trouble, and I'd already figured out that Vegeta was much stronger than Nappa. I wondered whether even Goku could handle this mysterious Saiyan called Vegeta.  
  
Nappa started to retreat as ordered, but he suddenly shifted direction and gained a rush of speed. It didn't take me long to realize it - he was heading straight toward Gohan and I with amazing speed. I don't know why I didn't get out of the way. I guess I kind of froze. The only thing I thought to do was get in front of Gohan. I saw Goku flying after Nappa, but there was no way he'd catch up to him in time. However, that's when Goku pulled out his big trick. Suddenly, I felt his ki just explode, and he was between Nappa and us before I even saw it. He landed holding Nappa in the air with one hand, paralyzed and helpless. He tossed him to the ground. He landed next to Vegeta.  
  
"He isn't fighting any more," Goku said. "Just take him and leave!"  
  
Vegeta didn't say anything, he just stood there and seemed to ponder what had just happened. I took the chance to ask Goku what in the universe he'd just done. I got a somewhat rushed explanation of the Kaiôken. Using it, you control all of the ki in your body at once and amplify it. If you do it correctly, you recieve an amazing increase in power and speed, as if you're somehow stronger than yourself. However, you have to be extremely careful when you're doing it, or you can overload your body and kill yourself. Interestingly, Kaiôken is a rare case of a technique whose name you actually HAVE to say when doing it. For some odd reason, it's impossible to perform a Kaiôken without shouting, "Kaiôken!" It's a very powerful technique, but I never bothered to learn it. I could have. I'm pretty sure that Yamucha knows it. There's just some instinct in me that makes me shy away from anything that you can kill yourself by using. The Kikouhou, the Kaiôken... I wouldn't use them under any circumstances. Goku, Tenshinhan, and Vegeta never seemed to have that failing. I feel a little guilty about that. If I had learned the Kaiôken, and really worked on it... It is so powerful, I might actually have been a little bit of good against Cell or Buu. Ahh, I guess that's taking it a little far. Oh well, it doesn't do any good to have regrets, does it?  
  
Back on the point, Nappa laid there shivering on the ground, helpless and in very obvious pain. He reached a hand feebly out to his partner.  
  
"Vegeta," I heard him croak desperately... "please... please help me..."  
  
Vegeta stared at him uncomfortably for a moment, and then hesitantly took his fallen comrade's hand. He grinned terribly, and then tossed Nappa high into the air. Vegeta powered up, causing a bright blue ki flare to form around him, and sent an enormous blast from his entire body at Nappa. It reduced him to dust.   
  
Man, oh man. I just... There's nothing lower than that. I admit that I wasn't sad to see Nappa go, but I couldn't imagine that anyone would be such a monster as to just kill their own partner (I once asked Vegeta whether he had any regrets about Nappa. He just gave me a look of total contempt and said, "Since when do YOU care?" For some reason, I felt like I deserved that). Also, the sheer amount of power of Vegeta's blast was so much. Could anyone really be that powerful? Of course, I hadn't seen anything yet. Sorry If I sound like a broken record on that point, but I'm trying to convey to you some kind of remote grasp of the powers I've felt, and it's just impossible. No words can describe it. By the time I get to Buu, I guarantee you that you won't want to think about it. Lord, I know that I don't. The amount of power possessed by the super saiyans and by some of the enemies we've fought is daunting. For heaven's sake, I am six million times as strong as the average person, at least! I'm not trying to brag or anything, that's just fact. And to them, do you know what I am? A weakling! Less than an ant! It's insane!   
  
...  
  
I'm so sorry. That was just a small portion of that rant. It's stupid and childish, and I promised myself I wouldn't get into it here. I could edit it out, but I'm afraid that if I did, it would come back later even worse, so I'm just going to leave it there and go on. I'm sorry. I'm not normally like that. I'm not resentful.  
  
Where was I? Right, Vegeta killed Nappa. Having seen that, Goku got very nervous. He floated with Gohan and I - we'd all flown way back to avoid the blast that killed Nappa - and we looked at the whole battlefield. A lot of the landscape was destroyed. All of the dead bodies were still lying where they'd fallen. Looking at them, I remembered what Vegeta had said. I'd been thinking about it for a while, actually. If Vegeta knew what he was talking about, then there were more dragon balls. If that was true - very big if - our friends might still be able to be brought back...   
  
Goku told Gohan and I to go back to the Kame House. As strong as Vegeta was, he didn't want us to be anywhere near the fighting. I didn't argue with him - I realized that Goku would only be hindered by having to worry about us getting hurt. Gohan wasn't happy about it, but he agreed too. I wanted to say something about my dragon ball theory, but I didn't want them to have false hope. To hell with it, I figured, I'd say it anyway. I decided not to actually tell what I had in mind yet, but just to tell Goku to fight somewhere else so that our friends' bodies wouldn't be mangled if they were brought back to life. He was a little confused, but he agreed to that. We said our goodbyes before leaving Goku, trying our best to be confident about the whole thing. I clasped his hand and told him not to die. "No way," he said. "Don't die" had become a kind of phrase that we used. As strange as it seemed, for us those simple little words conveyed, "Please, please don't get hurt, because I love you and it will hurt me so terribly if you do" without actually saying it, which would feel really weird.  
  
Goku said a few more things to his son, and then he and Vegeta flew off to fight, leaving Gohan and I behind and feeling very worried. For a minute or so we just floated there.   
  
"K... Kuririn-san," said Gohan, looking up at me with wide eyes, "I'm scared. I don't know if daddy can beat him... Do you think he can?"  
  
"Gohan," I said, "If anybody can do it, it's your dad." I hoped that it sounded comforting. Gohan was mature for his age, but he was only a child. I think one of the things that I was angriest of all about toward the saiyans was that they'd taken Gohan's childhood from him. I hated to see him suffering. "Well, come on," I told him, "We should go back to the Kame House, like Goku said."  
  
So, we took off and started flying in that general direction. We didn't fly as fast as we could have out of worry, I think. We kept feeling strange kis... way too large, much larger than anything we'd felt before. Sometimes it felt like the Saiyan, other times it felt like Goku. Occasionally, we would hear some kind of blast from far away, and Gohan would always stop and turn around, and I'd grab at him to get him going again. However, when we were almost there, I turned back and saw something bright in the sky, like a second sun. Right after that, I felt some enormous ki flare up. It felt like the Saiyan, but it was too powerful. I've never been great with power level estimates, but I'd put that power at somewhere around 150,000. Gohan felt it, too. We both realized that it was the Saiyan. Suddenly, Gohan looked determined.  
  
"I'm going back," he said.  
  
"What? Are you out of your mind?" Me, of course.  
  
"My daddy's in trouble! He... he could die!"  
  
I felt in shock. I knew that there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop him from going back. What a brave kid. He knew then that he didn't have the strength to do anything against Vegeta, but he was going back all the same. He flew off back in the direction we'd came in. I fretted for a moment, but pretty soon I was flying after him. Hell, I had to admit that I couldn't just stay back and let whatever happened happen, either. It was obvious pretty soon that we were right to go back. Before we got there, I could feel Goku's ki diminishing rapidly - when that happens, someone is near death. I guess we exhibited a bit of Nick of Time Syndrome ourselves - by the time we got there, Goku was moments away from being killed. We arrived in the desert that Vegeta and Goku had picked to fight in, and we saw a giant ape in Saiyan armor crushing Goku to death in his hands.  
  
--an ape! A giant ape! Things were not good. I cursed myself for forgetting about the Saiyan transformation. I'd figured that since the moon had been destroyed again, we didn't have to worry about it. Apparently, though, Vegeta knew how to make a temporary moon for his purposes. I had to take charge and be the leader and do it fast, or we were all dead. I shouted to Gohan to get down and hide, and then we ran toward the giant ape Vegeta as quickly as we could without being detected. Strangely enough, we ran into Yajirobe right then. I didn't really care, though. I knew that the giant ape was very powerful, so unless Vegeta turned back to normal we had no chance at all. Once again, I found myself down to the Kienzan. I remembered what Yamucha had said about those things - Goku had always changed back when his tail was cut off. I told Gohan and Yajirobe to distract him and I prepared a Kienzan. My nerves were shot. I could feel Goku's life slipping away.  
  
Vegeta saw Gohan and taunted him. "Oh, look, Kakarotto," he said cheerfully, "Your little son has come to watch you die! Well, little fella, how'd you like to hear your daddy's spine snap?" Or something disgusting like that.   
  
I threw a Kienzan at his tail, and he jumped over it. It went on to destroy a few more cliffs. You know, if the landscape had been our opponent, I'd have been doing pretty well. Vegeta laughed and loudly proclaimed that he'd been waiting for my move. He held Goku in front of us between his massive hands and began to grind them together. I trembled at the sight. It was one of the most terrible moments of my life. Goku was dying in front of me, and I couldn't do anything. The only thing I had that would even make Vegeta flinch was Kienzan, and another one of those seemed like a waste of energy since he could dodge them so easily. I was about to try one anyway when Vegeta suddenly stopped in shock. To my bewildernment, I saw Vegeta's tail cut off and falling to the ground... and Yajirobe sailing through the air with his katana extended. As soon as he landed, he ran like hell. You know, I've got to hand it to Yajirobe, that was his moment. He deserves a lot more credit than he gets for that - if not for him, we'd all be dead now. Actually, he's fond of sticking that at random into conversation - "Ya know, if it weren't for me, we'd all be dead now."  
  
With his tail gone, Vegeta returned to normal, making him drop Goku, who looked even worse than I'd suspected. I think there were hardly any bones in his body that WEREN'T broken. Vegeta was extremely angry, to say the least. Things looked pretty bad. Even back to normal and weakened besides, Vegeta was much stronger than Gohan and I. Vegeta declared that Gohan would die first and he landed next to him and began beating him up. I flew to his aid, but it was hopeless. With one kick Vegeta sent me ricocheting off of three cliffs. I fractured my skull and dislocated my left arm at the shoulder. I coughed up a lot of blood.  
  
Unbothered by me, Vegeta returned to mercilessly beating Gohan. He threw him next to Goku, who was, amazingly, still conscious. As I fought my way painfully to a position that was more or less upright, I heard Goku say to him, "Gohan... please, just hold him off... I know you can do that. Hold him off, and Kuririn will finish him."  
  
Wait, did he say that I would finish him?  
  
"So this is it," I thought again, "It's all over."  
  
Vegeta started kicking Goku around just out of spite. Goku was totally paralyzed, and he couldn't do a thing. I guess that seeing that was enough to set Gohan's rage off again, because he suddenly seemed to have the strength to exchange some blows with Vegeta, taking him away from Goku.   
  
"Ku--Kuririn!" I heard Goku cry. He could barely speak, it sounded so strained. "Kuririn, please come--!"  
  
I didn't see what good it could do, but I managed to limp over to him.   
  
"Goku," I said, "It's hopeless."  
  
He turned to me - well, really more of rolled his head in my direction - and smiled. "No, Kuririn, not yet. I can still give you the Genki Dama."  
  
"The what?"  
  
The Genki Dama is probably the most powerful thing there is. Ki is gathered from as far as the user can manage to gather it, taking a little bit of the life force from every living thing it reaches and compressing it all into one immensely powerful sphere. On a planet like Earth, that adds up to a LOT of ki. Goku must've gathered the ki earlier in the fight but not had the chance to make the sphere. Most of the power had already escaped, but there was still some left. Goku told me to take his hand. He cried out in pain when I did because his arm was broken, but he gasped out, "Just hold it!" so I did.  
  
Goku concentrated, and I saw his hand light up with a tremendous crackling energy that transferred to my hand. It felt amazing! I couldn't believe how much ki there was. Per Goku's instructions, I concentrated hard and cupped my palm, and I managed to form the Genki Dama into a sphere. It hovered just above my cupped hand. It was about as big as a globe, but very dense and so bright that it made my eyes hurt. Goku gasped painfully. He didn't have any strength left. He said that he was counting on me. I felt my lip stiffen at that. Goku was counting on me. There's a switch.  
  
"Leave it to me," I said solemnly, and I leapt to a good vantage spot. I could see Vegeta and Gohan, still fighting. Gohan was giving it all he had, but he was doing badly. The Genki Dama was our final hope.  
  
Vegeta was moving so quickly, I couldn't see how I'd ever get a bead on him. I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my life. I mean, I only had one shot. If I missed, that was it. It was all over for everybody. Let me tell you, as frustrating as it is being a bystander, it isn't very fun to be the person everyone is counting on, either. Still, I felt determined. After all that he'd done for me, Goku was finally counting on me to do one little thing. All I had to do was throw a ball. If I couldn't handle that-- well, damn me if I couldn't handle that.  
  
As I tried to aim at Vegeta, I heard a voice in my head.  
  
"Do not aim with your eyes," it said, "Feel the evil ki and throw."  
  
"What?" I demanded. "Who said that?"  
  
The voice identified itself as Kaiô, the Lord of Worlds. "In your hand," it said, "You hold the ki... and all of the hopes... of an entire planet."  
  
Yeeeeesh. No pressure, right?  
  
I swallowed hard and looked around. Goku was still alive, but still paralyzed. Vegeta began to throw a volley of blasts at Gohan - it was obvious that he wouldn't last long. I took one more look at the ball of ki in my hand.  
  
The hopes of a planet...  
  
I shut my eyes tightly and reached out with my sense of ki. I felt over an expanse of desert and felt it - I felt Vegeta's evil ki. Once I had a lock on that ki, I knew somehow that there was no way that I could miss. I prepared to throw it.  
  
That was when Yajirobe just had to open his big mouth. He shouted something at me, and it got Vegeta's attention. Desperate, I just threw the Genki Dama at Vegeta as quickly as I could. It headed straight for him. Because he'd been alerted by Yajirobe's yelling, though, he jumped over it.   
  
In that moment, I felt as if I had died and gone to hell. There aren't many feelings worse than having failed a whole planet. I might have killed myself. However, we were really, really lucky. With Vegeta out of the way, the ball headed straight for Gohan. Since Gohan didn't have an evil ki, it knocked into him, bounced off, and, miraculously, hit Vegeta.  
  
It hit him with an explosion as bright as the sun that seemed to swallow everything. The whole sky turned dark, and the Genki Dama held Vegeta in an enormously huge sphere of furiously crackling energy. You couldn't see or hear anything but the Genki Dama. It crackled out in all directions, destroying most of the landscape that was still standing, and with one final burst of energy, sent Vegeta screaming into the sky.  
  
Incidentally, the Genki Dama was the only blow I managed to land on Vegeta throughout the whole fight. Thank you.  
  
You know, as it turned out the battle wasn't quite over, but I can't write any more right now. I got kind of upset writing this. I need to go talk to my wife. She'll probably tell me that I'm being ridiculous, and then maybe she'll give me one of those famous back massages. Mmm.  
  
By the way, if you're the sort of person who reads these things one chapter at a time and you're in terrible suspense, I can assure you that Vegeta did not destroy the Earth that day. Sorry if I spoiled it for you.  
  
--END OF CHAPTER FIFTEEN-- 


	16. Desperation

~16. Desperation~

The Genki Dama was the most awe-inspiring thing I'd ever seen. I was in a bit of shock after that. It took a second for it to occur to me - hey, we did it. Once that realization entered my mind, though, I was so happy that I forgot all about how tired I was, and I leapt straight off of the cliff upon which I was standing and ran to where Goku was still lying, unable to move, shouting and whooping all the while. What a tremendous relief I felt then. There's nothing like it.

Gohan and I sat next to Goku and we briefly celebrated our victory. It was a muted celebration, because we'd been through a lot and we all were messed up pretty badly, although none of us half as badly as Goku. It's a wonder he wasn't dead of some sort of injury by that point. I remember feeling very, very tired, so tired that I could've just laid down and never woken up again. Still, we smiled and said a couple of self-congratulatory things. We didn't have long to celebrate, though, because just then something fell from the sky and landed with a resounding thump not far from us. It was Vegeta. He didn't move after hitting the ground. Gohan was alarmed, but I wasn't afraid. After all, I was sure that nothing, not even something like Vegeta, could survive what I had just seen. Frankly, I was surprised that there was enough of him left to recognize. I should have known better. Vegeta's like a cockroach. You just can't kill him.

I approached what I assumed to be Vegeta's corpse and regarded it. He looked like hell. It was hard to believe that he'd caused so much trouble, from looking at him. "Well," I declared, "I guess I'll at least dig a grave."

The sardonic reply came, "For whom? Yourselves?"

No. Oh, no. It was just impossible. I just couldn't bring myself to believe it. Yet Vegeta opened his eyes and stood up with visible effort. He still looked like hell. I could hear him strain with every breath. When he got up and faced me again, though, he was as terrifying as ever. More, even. I suppose that I could have leapt back and thrown a Kienzan - I probably had enough energy for one more if I didn't mind passing out - but I was so frightened that I froze. He knocked me aside. The blow hurt, but it had nowhere near the punch of the last time he'd hit me. I was still trying to come to grips with the fact that he was still alive as I coughed up more blood and brought myself painfully to my knees again. It wasn't fair. We had done it, we'd saved the world. Who the hell did Vegeta think he was, still being alive after that?

He walked to where he was standing in the middle of all of us, complaining loudly about how much trouble we'd given him. He said that there was no way that he, the prince of Saiyans, should have struggled with 'scum' such as us. I had nearly gotten to my feet again when he screamed and made an enormous explosion that went out in all sides from where he was standing and made another crater that you can still see today. That was what Vegeta had planned to do from the start in case he needed to wipe us all out at once, but he had been weakened so much that we all survived it. I was thrown against a rock ledge. I started to try to stand again, but it was so hard. My muscles ached and shook all over, and I felt light-headed and drained.

Vegeta was getting desperate. He approached Gohan, who was his biggest threat remaining, to try and finish him off, almost falling twice on the way. I managed to lift myself enough to see something startling about the same time that Vegeta did - Gohan's tail had grown back. Truthfully, I'd forgotten that he'd ever had one. It must have been cut off by Piccolo at some point. I was almost feverish at the thought of it. It was a long shot, but if Gohan could transform into the ape then we could still have a chance. It still seemed hopeless, though, because Vegeta was going to kill Gohan before he could do anything. I wanted so badly to attack Vegeta or even shout something to Gohan, but I was so injured that it was a tremendous effort just to keep from losing consciousness. Fortunately, Yajirobe prevented disaster one more time. Although Vegeta saw Yajirobe's wild attack coming, he was so weakened that he couldn't dodge it. Vegeta's ki was even high enough that under normal circumstances Yajirobe's sword wouldn't have scratched him, but he didn't have enough energy left to keep his invulnerability going, and the sword cut into him. I think that Vegeta was just so startled from the attack that he fell over.

You know, it makes my head hurt to think of that battle and how desperately it was fought. We were so lucky so many times. On several occasions, if things had gone one inch or one second differently, we would all have died that day, Vegeta would have destroyed the Earth, and you would not be reading this. A person can drive themself insane with "what if"s.

Unlike Yajirobe, who loudly proclaimed his victory, I didn't think for a moment that Vegeta was dead. He got back up pretty quickly and beat Yajirobe around a little bit to ensure that he wouldn't interrupt things again. This bought us about fifteen seconds, during which Gohan had to see Vegeta's artificial moon or we were all dead for sure. Gohan was still conscious and starting to get back up, but he didn't know about the transformation. Someone had to tell him.

"Gohan, look at the ball in the sky!" I shouted. Or, at least, that's what I ordered my body to do. Instead, I muttered, "Gohan..." and pitched face-first into the dirt. I was even weaker than I'd thought. Somehow Goku, who was more injured than me by far, managed to say what I'd tried to say to Gohan.

Gohan rolled over rather groggily and looked up at the glowing thing in the sky. When Vegeta saw this, he screamed and practically threw himself in Gohan's direction, desperate to kill him before he could transform. Fortunately, he didn't quite make it before Gohan started to transform. Vegeta actually pounded on Gohan's body as it grew into the ape, but he didn't seem to harm him much. After transforming, the giant ape Gohan started randomly destroying things. Like Goku, he lost control when he changed. I wasn't very far from him, so I was really alarmed to find that out.

"Gohan, go for the Saiyan!" I screamed. Amazingly, I actually seemed to get through to him, because after that Gohan stopped, slowly turned to Vegeta, and began growling at him. He threw a large boulder at him that he dodged, and then jumped toward Vegeta. Vegeta's last move was to throw something that looked like a Kienzan at Gohan's tail. It cut it off, but it didn't really matter, because Gohan still had his momentum, and just the weight of the giant ape falling on him was enough to finish off the battered Vegeta. There you have it, one of the major battles for the fate of the Earth. You won't find any of that in any history books to my knowledge, although by now most reasonable people have acknowledged the fact that it was the Saiyans who caused the destruction of East Capital City. Some stubborn people will no doubt declare that I've distorted or perhaps even fabricated this battle. I guess I can't blame them for not wanting to think that the fate of the Earth hung in the balance like that. In any event, I swear to you that it's all true. Take that for what it's worth.

Gohan returned to normal pretty quickly after they hit the ground. Vegeta STILL wasn't dead, of course. He took a remote control out of his armor and summoned his spaceship, which arrived a couple of minutes later, a strange little spherical thing. Meanwhile, I finally managed to stand up. I almost blacked out from the rush of standing up, but I managed to hold on and climb slowly and painfully down the cliff I'd been thrown against. By the time I reached the ground, Vegeta's spaceship had arrived. He started to crawl toward it, but he could barely move. Still, I realized with alarm that he was escaping. After all that we'd been through, I just couldn't let that happen. At that point, I was the only person who could have stopped him. Yajirobe and Gohan were both unconscious, and Goku was just a couple of steps above dead. I wasn't exactly in terriffic shape myself, but I could still walk. It was up to me.

I didn't have the strength left to throw a punch, much less a Kamehameha, but I found Yajirobe's sword lying near me and picked it up. I knew right then that I could kill him for sure. I was staggering, but I'd still reach him way before he could manage to scramble into his ship. I wanted to finish it as quickly as possible. I don't like killing. I hate killing. I believe that each and every life in this universe is sacred. Many's the time that my wife has called me ridiculous for refusing to crush a spider or something of that sort. When you have to do something, though, you have to do it. I knew that I'd hate myself if I let him get away.

So, I did reach Vegeta before he got away. He looked up at me, terrified, and froze. Suddenly, I felt righteous. This was the moment of retribution. I ought to send Vegeta to Hell with something to think about, I reasoned.

"This... is for everyone that you've killed." I said, and I lifted Yajirobe's katana above my head. I could have killed him. I would have. I very nearly did before I heard a voice in my head.

"Kuririn, stop!" it said. It was Goku, talking to me telepathically. I've got no idea where he picked up that little skill. I stopped just short, and I trembled. Every fiber of my being raged at stopping. I was avenging my friends. I was saving the world. Me! What the hell did I mean by stopping? Although one voice in my head told me to stop, a thousand more told me, "No! Kill him! Do it now! Now, you idiot! Do it!"

Still, I turned around and faced Goku. He spoke to me again, "Kuririn, please... I have one request... please let the Saiyan go."

I told Goku that he was insane. I told him that Vegeta had tried to kill the whole world. I told him that if we let Vegeta go, he'd heal, come back, and kill us. His response was basically, "Yeah, I know, but..."

But? Goku told me that he'd been shocked and terrified at Vegeta's power. Well, so had I. Goku, though, also felt happy somewhere inside, thrilled to be fighting such power. He begged me to let him handle Vegeta himself next time. It was that damn almost-suicidal instinct of the Saiyans'. Thank goodness that insanity doesn't seem to turn up in Gohan and the other half-Saiyans.

I was furious. For a moment, I wanted to use the sword on Goku. What the hell did he think he was doing? Yet, by that point I'd already lost the battle. My will to kill Vegeta wasn't honestly that strong, and there was only one impassioned moment in which I could actually have done it. In addition to that, I couldn't bear to refuse Goku's request, as much as I owed him. He was begging me.

I looked at Vegeta one more time, now fully inside of his ship. It isn't too late, I told myself. Goku had no power over me. I could blow him off and do it anyway. Nothing would stop me. Hell, Goku would probably thank me later when he was back to his senses, and even if he didn't, so what? That Saiyan bastard had to die. I sighed. I wasn't fooling anyone, I'd lost. I let the katana fall to the ground.

"Goku," I said, "Next time, beat Vegeta by yourself!"

Injured as he was, Vegeta couldn't resist talking a little more trash, and then his ship closed up and burst upward into the sky. I watched it leave with great remorse. I realized that if Vegeta came back and destroyed the Earth, then I'd have only myself to blame. I only felt that way for a few seconds, though. Honestly, I've never been big on guilt. Things happen the way they happen, and feeling bad about it isn't going to do me or anyone else a bit of good. So, I shrugged it off and just felt relieved that the battle was over, at least for the time being. I lifted Gohan's naked, unconscious body and carried it to where Goku was lying. Oh, yeah, I also grabbed Vegeta's remote, figuring it might come in handy.

Almost exactly then, an enormous aircraft landed nearby. Muten Roshi leaned out of a window and shouted at me. It made me so happy to see a familiar face. I'd been apart from Muten Roshi for so long that I'd come to miss him an awful lot. After all, he has always cared for me. It wasn't Muten Roshi that came out of the craft first when it landed, though. Chichi tore out of that thing like some kind of rampaging animal. She leapt right over the poor, broken body of her husband and practically knocked me over in snatching Gohan away from me. She cried and shouted a lot of things like "My baby". You know, I don't blame her one bit for being worried about Gohan, but wouldn't you think that she'd be just a tad concerned about her husband, who had nearly died saving the planet? Maybe it's just me. Hell, I know that if I were seriously hurt, 18 would damn well care about it. Oh well.

I couldn't get through to Chichi, so I went back to Goku. Muten Roshi, Bulma, and Karin-sama were all hovering over him. I bit my lip at seeing Bulma. I had to get it out of the way. "Bulma," I said, "The Saiyans were more powerful than we'd ever thought. Everyone but the four of us died, including Yamucha. I'm sorry."

I couldn't believe my eyes or ears as Bulma practically blew off what I'd just said. "Oh, I figured, but it's no big deal," she said. "We can just use the dragon balls to resurrect them later." Poor Bulma. She can be denial personified sometimes. I had to explain that Piccolo had died, and there were no more dragon balls.

"Come on, you're joking, right?" Her voice trembled. Her eyes searched me for some kind of release from the terrible news. It felt pretty awful. She broke down and started crying. I couldn't look at her.

The mood was pretty solemn after that. Everyone got into the craft, including Goku, who had to be carefully carried in. As we took off, my thoughts went back to what I'd heard Vegeta say about the dragon balls on Namek. I really didn't want to get anyone's hopes up in case it was nothing, but everyone was so terribly sad that I just couldn't bear it anymore. I had to say something. I said that there might be a chance to bring them back, but before I could say anything else we arrived at the location where the dead bodies of our friends were. We had to go out and collect them and put them in preservation capsules. I didn't help, actually. I used my injuries as an excuse to stay in so I wouldn't have to look at Yamucha's body. It made me feel terrible just thinking about it.

Gohan woke up right after we did that. He was really panicked. I tried to reassure him about Vegeta by saying that "I bet he never comes back," even though I didn't believe it. Gohan calmed down, though, after seeing that his father was okay. It's nice that someone showed some concern for the poor guy. Chichi was still being really stubborn.

Anyway, everyone focused their attention on me as I explained about Piccolo and Kami really being aliens, and about the possibility of more dragon balls on the planet Namek. Everyone cheered up considerably after I said that, except for Bulma, who sighed and pointed out that we didn't even know where Namek was. Goku was able to ask Kaiô-sama about it, though. Pretty soon we heard his voice echoing through our heads, a new experience for most of us. He gave us the planet's coordinates, and we started to get hopeful again, but a second time Bulma shot us down. She dutifully informed us that using the fastest ship that Capsule Corp could make, getting to Namek would take several thousand years. Everyone got pretty quiet after that. However, I just grinned and whipped out the remote control I'd taken from Vegeta, proudly declaring that we could just use the ship that Nappa'd come in. Well, that time not even Bulma had anything to say. Everyone was happy. Finally, we had some hope.

The first place we went was the Kame House, where Pu'ar and Oolong were still anxiously awaiting any news. I insisted upon getting out to meet them, hoping that for once I could break bad news to someone with some amount of grace. We went inside and gave them the main layout of what had happened. I took Pu'ar aside, though. Her eyes searched me just like Bulma's, pleading for some kind of hope. I was grateful that this time I had at least a little to give.

"Pu'ar," I said, "Yamucha was one of those who died fighting the Saiyans. I'm sorry."

"Oh..." she murmured, "Oh. And the dragon balls?"

"Piccolo also died." I bit my tongue a little, not sure how she'd react to that. I guess I kind of expected her to burst into tears or something, but she just nodded and sighed.

"I see," she said. "Oh, Yamucha-sama... how we wasted our time together..."

"But hold on," I hurriedly responded. "There's still a chance to bring him back to life."

"What?" I was amazed how stern Pu'ar's cute little face suddenly appeared. "You shouldn't do this to me, Kuririn. It will only hurt more."

"No, really! You see... you... see... I..."

Yeah, right about then is when I figure I passed out from blood loss. A piece of advice: If you're injured, pay attention to your body. The next thing that I remember is waking up about a day later in a hospital, with my arm in a sling and my head wrapped up in bandages. I had to walk with a crutch, too. Considering the beating that I took, though, I didn't fare so badly. The doctor said that Gohan and I would be okay with just three days in the hospital. Goku, on the other hand, was completely immoblized from head to toe and wrapped up like a mummy. Karin-sama said that there'd be more senzu in a month, though, so we didn't worry too much about it. Yajirobe was taken care of too, but he wasn't hospitalized. All he had was a little bruising and some cuts. To hear him talk, though, he'd had his back broken. That's Yajirobe for you. Pretty soon we were visited by Karin-sama, Muten Roshi, the Ox King, and Chichi, who finally at least asked Goku if he was going to be okay. The mood was pretty happy. I took a good-natured jab at Yajirobe for begging Vegeta for mercy, for which he threatened to beat me up. Boy, there's a joke if I've ever heard one. Even with a crutch and a sling I could take Yajirobe in a walk. We were really anxious, though, for the arrival of Bulma, who'd promised to come with a way worked out for us to leave for Namek.

--END OF CHAPTER SIXTEEN--


	17. Leaving Home

~17. Leaving Home~

Yesterday, as I was going through some old boxes in the attic to jog my memory, I found something that almost startled me. I'm sure that I hadn't seen it in at least twelve or thirteen years. It was a faded old baseball cap, blue and red and white, with "Kuririn" emblazoned upon the front in bold black letters. It was crushed flat under several more substantial objects, and covered in dust, but after I shook it loose a bit it looked almost the same as ever.

That hat was one of a set of three that were given to me on my seventeenth birthday. I'd never really had a birthday party or gifts before then because I've never really known exactly when I was born; they had just given me a rough idea of how old I was at the Orinji Temple. However, one day when we were lying around the Kame House, Yamucha and Pu'ar managed to get out of me the day of the year when I go ahead and count myself a year older - May 1st. The question was kind of casual, so I didn't think that they meant anything by it. When that day rolled around, though, I was startled when coming home from getting groceries for Muten Roshi. I was ambushed by Lunch, Yamucha, Pu'ar, Umigame, and Muten Roshi-sama. They strapped a party hat to my head, sat me down, and damned if they didn't throw a birthday party for me. I was just speechless. That was one of the happiest moments of my young life. I don't know if they even appreciated how much it meant to me - I'd come across the Kame House as kind of a wanderer, and sometimes I felt like just a tenant there. That gesture, though, let me know that everyone there really cared about me, and that's a wonderful, beautiful feeling.

I got a few little things at that party, but the main gift from everyone was the three caps. They were really cool hats, and I looked good in them. For years, I was practically always wearing one of those hats. I liked the way they looked and felt, and they covered up the insence burns on my forehead, which I have to admit I sometimes wish I didn't have. They're a symbol of something that, while I still have a deep respect for, I'm really not anymore, and haven't been for a very long time. Back to the hats, though, I loved them. They sustained me through bouts of homesickness as I was training for the 23rd tournament, serving as a reminder that somewhere, someone was waiting to see me again. Of the three hats, one of them was destroyed when Frieza blew up Namek, and another one I lost in a river while hiking with Gohan, but one of them managed to make it through all these years into a box in the attic of the Kame House. I'm wearing it now, a tribute to the amazing ribbon of memories that connect in my mind to those hats, not the least of which is my trip to the planet Namek, which is incidentally the topic of this chapter, hence why it isn't named "my favorite hats". (I was tempted, let me tell you.)

Everyone except Oolong and Pu'ar were visiting us at the hospital, and we all brightened up when Bulma burst into the room. Bulma's always quite a presence in any room, no one's ever accused her of being mousy, but on that particular occasion she was really the center of attention because she had news about the alien ship. She turned on the television, and we saw Nappa's ship being examined while a reporter talked about the "strange globular object found in the ruins of East Capital City". Bulma, smirking, produced the remote left by Vegeta and pressed a few buttons. Everyone gathered hotly around the TV. We all wanted to see what would happen. (Actually, Goku still couldn't move, so desperate cries of "I can't see, I can't see!" could be heard from the back of the room.) We were all shocked when the television showed the spacecraft suddenly shudder violently and explode. Actually, that's an understatement. It felt as if our lives had ended.

"Oh, crap, I told myself not to touch the self destruct button!" yelled Bulma. Argh. I think I've mentioned already that she's a mechanical genius, but there's a fine line between genius and stupidity sometimes.

I sank to the floor in despair. I'd gotten everyone's hopes up for nothing - now Yamucha, Tenshinhan, Chaozu and Piccolo were all dead for good and there was absolutely nothing to do about it. A terrible feeling went through the room. Gohan cried a little. Bulma got upset and tried to blame it on me. Mostly, everyone stood around uncomfortably wondering what we'd do next. I think that things would have just kept getting worse, but we were rescued when Mister Popo materialized outside the window. I ran to the window to meet him. I'd actually gotten to know Mister Popo about as well as you can hope to know someone like him during my training on Kami's lookout, so it was exciting for me to see him. He smiled at me.

"Someone come," he said in his odd, plain kind of voice, "There is a spaceship."

Boom. As quickly as hope had come and gone again, it came again. Popo-san was pretty vague about it, he would only say that it was "probably a spaceship" and that someone had to come and look at it. The natural choice to go was Bulma, and although she was pretty reluctant, she eventually climbed out of the window and onto Popo's magic carpet. They disappeared, and we were left to wait. We had to wait for about half an hour. We tried to pass the time by having Goku and I exchange stories about Mister Popo, but we were really glad when they finally got back. Bulma was practically bouncing with excitement. She told us about the ship, apparently the ship that Kami-sama had originally come to Earth in. She said that the ship was perfect, it'd get us to Namek in a month, and we could take off in five days. We were elated to hear that. Suddenly, the long shot seemed like a sure thing. We started to plan the trip immediately. At first, Bulma wanted Mister Popo to go, but he said that he couldn't leave Kami's lookout for that long. Again, Bulma was the obvious choice. She was kind of upset about leaving Earth, but she had to admit that she'd have to be one to go. She wouldn't go alone, though, so she asked me to come with her. That was a little shock to me. I'd been thinking about someone going to Namek, but I'd never thought that it would actually be me. Of course, if I'd known what was waiting for me there, I probably would have ran screaming from the room, but I agreed to go with Bulma. So, things were set. Bulma and I would go to Namek, wish everyone back, and be back in two months. Everyone seemed okay with that arrangement. However, that's when Gohan spoke up.

"Take me with you!" he almost shouted it. He'd been thinking about it ever since someone had said there was a spaceship.

All of the air seemed to drain out of the room, and there was that terrible, ghastly silence that only fills a room when something very shocking has just happened, or was just about to happen. In this case, it was both. Everyone stared at Gohan. It was quiet.

Slowly, Chichi crept to her son's side and started speaking in a soft, maternal voice, asking him what nonsense he was saying. Gohan was dead serious. He said that he wanted to bring Piccolo back to life with his own two hands. I can hardly think of how that must have sounded to Chichi, whose mental image of Piccolo was still that terrible monster from the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budokai. She tried talking to him again, and I could see her start to shiver with rage. You know, my heart honestly goes out to Chichi. She'd already waited for so long to see Gohan again, it must have been a terrible blow to her to find out that he was just going to leave again. Still, she didn't have to react the way she did. After Goku praised his son's decision, Chichi snapped. She yelled at Gohan. She told him that he was doing no such thing, that she forbade it. The tension just built and built until Gohan screamed, "Be quiet!" at his own mother. There was another ghastly silence.

Through clenched teeth, Gohan explained that he had to help bring back the warriors who'd died protecting the Earth. Gohan was so young then. He didn't fully understand his feelings yet, but he knew what they were, and he was as determined as any adult I'd ever heard. His little speech was short and to the point, but it was filled with such raw truth and emotion that I couldn't possibly do it justice here. That Gohan was one amazing kid. Chichi withered. She'd lost. Gohan's grandpa, the Ox King, approved.

So, that's how it came to be that Gohan, Bulma and I traveled to Namek together. Gohan and I spent the next three days in the hospital with Goku and usually Chichi, who was suddenly aflutter with preparations for Gohan's space trip. She seemed almost excited about it. We were attended by a doctor who scolded us for our grave injuries but refused to believe our "nonsense" about fighting space aliens. I floated around the room a bit just to mess with his mind. He almost flipped. Heh heh heh. Poor guy, he was just doing his job. Gohan and I were released after those three days, and I returned to the Kame House. It was almost weird to see it again after so long. I spent a while packing my stuff, but I mostly visited Goku in the time before I left for Namek. Goku is such an active, get up and go kind of person that it drove the poor guy insane to be paralyzed in a hospital bed like that. I tried to cheer him up by talking about the coming trip.

I think it was on November 14th that we left for Namek, a total of eleven days after the battle against the Saiyans. I was excited and really nervous. Sure, I'd agreed to go, but leaving my home planet just felt wrong somehow, and Namek was so far away. Also, even though I'd gained a respect for Piccolo by this time, and we'd been assured by Kaio-sama that Piccolo was an exception to the rule and that Namekians were peace-loving creatures, I have to admit that I was more than a little bit set on edge at the thought of going to a planet full of things like Piccolo. (No offense to Dende, who I know will read this.) I wasn't really sure how to prepare for outer space, so I just wore some rough weather clothing and, of course, my cap. I figured that if those things had helped me get through leaving home before, maybe they'd be of some comfort when I left home in a greater sense. Bulma, on the other hand, was all decked out in space gear and was extremely upset to see that I hadn't similarly prepared. Actually, Bulma was acting weird in general that day. I guess it was just that she was nervous too. I can't blame her, rocketing off Kami-knows-where with just me as her bodyguard. Gohan's preperations were the funniest, though. Chichi had him dressed up like a schoolboy. It was hilarious to see him like that, just like when Yamucha and I dressed up Goku. (If you're going "huh?" at that, shame on you for not paying attention. It's in chapter 4. Er, or 5. I forget. Never mind about shame on you, this is a pretty confusing narrative.)

The ship was pretty imposing. It looked very alien, and getting into it made me nervous. I said a little prayer silently as I stepped onto the platform. Once we got into the ship, though, I cooled off. It looked really high-tech and it was actually pretty cool. I was kind of giddy, actually. I felt like a pioneer, or something. Going where no man has gone, and all that. It was kind of silly of me, though, since Bulma was the one doing all of the work. Within seconds, we'd taken off. I wanted to see the Earth, but by the time I got to the window, you couldn't see it anymore. We were just going that fast.

The three of us had to exist for about a month in an enclosed space. The spaceship wasn't tiny or anything, we had room to move around. Still, it was a tad cramped. I think it was kind of fun, actually, like camping. Gohan and I quickly found a way to pass the time when he showed me something amazing that he'd learned from Piccolo - image training. Image training involves telepathy. You can do it alone or with someone else. Amazingly, it's just like real training and almost as effective. In some ways, it's actually better. Since you can't get seriously hurt while image training, you can do things you'd never dream of doing in normal training out of fear of hurting yourself or your partner. You can really go all out. For the duration of the trip, Gohan and I were about even. Again, just amazing. I'd spent most of my life training, and this five year old kid, who'd been a good deal weaker than me some eleven days ago, was suddenly my equal. Of course, I would soon bid farewell to being able to claim that I was in Gohan's league - the kid passed me like a rocket.

We didn't train all of the time, of course. Gohan and I also had the chance to talk a lot. I told him about a lot of the adventures that you read of in the first eleven chapters, and he was really captivated. I also got to hear from Gohan about a part of Goku's life I'd never heard about before. He spoke very fondly of his father. Apparently, Goku was quite a family man. Gohan told me about all of the things that he and his father used to do together. I feel a little melancholy now, talking about this. I've tried so hard to keep myself in the frame of mind as I was then, as I said before, but on this particular point I can't help but be sad. Goku is gone now. Gohan loved his dad so much. I hope that he's doing okay. I hope that it doesn't cause him undue pain when he reads this. I'd feel terrible about that.

Gohan also talked about Piccolo, whom he respected a lot, and all three of us speculated about Namek. We really had no idea what we were heading into. We probably could've landed on a completely different planet, and maybe a couple of bored aliens could have played a prank on us and told us it was Namek, and we'd never have known the difference. Okay, I'm being silly, I'll stop. It's the hat, I tell you. It makes me like this.

I'd kind of dreaded spending a month in a ship with Bulma, but it really wasn't so bad. Honestly, I don't know what I've been doing typing so many unkind things about Bulma here. She's got a lot of positive qualities. For one thing, she has a lot of determination. If it weren't for her, practically nothing you've read or will read in this volume would have ever happened. Also, she's just scarily smart. I swear, that woman's mind goes at a pace that leaves my poor brain in the dust. On the ship, while Gohan and I kept ourselves entertained pretty easily, she was quikly surrounded with food and drawings and diagrams and books and manga and just about everything you can think of. All this is not to mention, of course, the fact that out of the kindness of her heart she supported me totally financially for like 11 years after the whole Namek affair. Seriously, despite the impression you may have been getting, I like Bulma and I'm grateful to know her.

Anyway, for all that we did to keep ourselves busy, we still found ourselves for the most part sitting around, wondering what would happen to us, worrying that we might never get back home, reflecting on recent events, and often just staring out at the amazing void of space. As fast as we were going, we didn't seem to be moving at all out in that. Space is mind-boggling. It's as beautiful as it is scary.

The Planet Namek looked very beautiful and tranquil both from space and on the surface. I was amazed at the sight of it when we landed. It didn't look that different from Earth - I hadn't expected it to be too different, really, because Piccolo could exist on Earth - but just the thought of being on another planet was pretty awe-inspiring. Bulma began a thorough diagnostic to determine whether we could breathe the atmosphere and such, but Gohan and I were already out walking around. Ha ha, she was pretty upset about that. Really, I guess walking out onto an alien planet without caution was pretty dumb. Who was the five year old on that trip, anyway? I wasn't the brightest bulb in the box in my twenties.

I couldn't believe that we'd made it. For one shining moment, it felt like nothing could go wrong. Then, of course, things went completely, totally, entirely, disgustingly, terrifyingly wrong right away.

--END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN--


	18. Monsters On Planet Namek

~Chapter 18: Monsters on Planet Namek~

It's astounding to be standing on another planet. Our minds are so conditioned to think that no matter where we go, we're still on Earth, that attempting to convince yourself that you're somwhere else is more than a little bewildering. I was very impressed with Namek. I wrote three or four hundred words here describing the planet in detail, but I edited out because I realized when I read it that it wasn't that interesting. I guess it was more the experience of being on another planet than the planet's actual features that made it so captivating. Here's the short version: the land on Namek was mostly by large, open fields with a lot of cliffs and other sharp changes in elevation, and the ocean was vast and calm but peppered with a lot of small islands. The most striking thing was probably the two suns. It's never night on Namek.

The first thing we did after getting out (besides getting yelled at by Bulma) was to check the dragon ball radar. Surprise - it found seven dragon balls. We were really happy. It seemed almost too good to be true - not only had we actually made it to the planet Namek, there were actually dragon balls on it! Really, the whole trip had seemed like a false hope from the start. We were going mostly on faith. At that point, though, I could finally see us actually getting the balls, and using them to bring everybody back to life. While Bulma and I were jumping around and celebrating, though, Gohan was staring off into space.

"Uh... Kuririn..." he said, "Do you feel some ki?"

Just then, I did. I felt a lot of ki. It felt very, very powerful and very, very evil. We'd only been on Namek for a minute and a half, and I was already regretting it. Gohan and I stood and stared nervously in the direction we felt it from. Bulma said that it was probably just the Namekians, but I could tell just from the feel of it that it wasn't. Feeling that ki put a lump in my throat. It was even worse than Vegeta and Nappa. I tried to go along with Bulma's assumption anyway. "Sure," I said, "It's just the Namekians. That's gotta be it." I desperately tried to push the uneasy feeling out of my mind. I don't think I could have even if I hadn't seen Vegeta's spaceship enter the atmosphere a few seconds later.

I recognized the spherical little ship immediately. All at once, any hope that I still had vanished. We were doomed. I think I felt angry more than anything else. Both at myself - the trip to Namek had been my idea, after all, and I should have realized that Vegeta would be coming for the dragon balls himself - and at the entire universe. Why couldn't things ever just work out for us? I was so disgusted that I threw my cap to the ground. I tried to calm myself down and think. I had to take control of the situation as much as I could. I realized that it was pretty much up to me to be the leader, which is a position that I'm not usually in. I suppressed my ki and told Gohan to do the same, to avoid being detected. My mind raced with thoughts of what we'd do next.

"We have to go back to Earth! Now!" said Bulma. That was probably the most sensible decision, but I wasn't ready to let go of the hope of bringing our friends back to life. Also, I couldn't help but feel like playing the hero a little bit. I knew that Vegeta was a menace, and I shuddered to think what he would do if he got the dragon balls. I told Bulma to go back to Earth on her own, and Gohan and I would just have to try to keep the balls out of the wrong hands somehow. Little Gohan unflinchingly stepped up and agreed to help me. Bulma went back to the ship to send a message to Earth to inform the others of the situation. Really, all three of us were frightened half to death, but you have to keep moving, you have to have something to do. There's no worse feeling than just sitting around, waiting to die.

Gohan and I felt Vegeta's ki appear not too far away, confirming our suspicions. After Bulma finished her call to Earth ("Vegeta's here! I'm coming back alone! Tell Goku and everybody, except, whatever you do, don't tell Chichi!"), another spherical ship came from the sky and landed right next to Vegeta's, and a ki almost as powerful as Vegeta's came out of it. That was alarming, but we were confused more than anything. Who in the world was that? I never learned, because that ki disappeared pretty quickly. I guess whoever it was must have been killed, maybe by Vegeta. I guess that's just one of the things that happened on Namek that I'll never know about. If I really had to know, I could ask Vegeta, but... I don't really HAVE to know. You know?

Bulma almost did go back to Earth. It's really my fault that she didn't. Even though I'd already made up my mind to stay on Namek, when I saw her leaving, I got cold feet. The sight of my only shot at ever going home again leaving made me very nervous and scared. While I was stalling, Gohan noticed someone coming toward us. The ki felt too weak to be Vegeta, so we figured that it was Namekians. The two strange-looking bipeds that emerged from behind a cliff, though, were definitely not Saiyans or Namekians. However, they were wearing the same kind of armor that had been on Vegeta, Nappa, and even Raditz, and they had scouters. That was when it first occurred to me that we were dealing with something a lot bigger than just Vegeta. These guys were obviously scouts for somebody. I had a very bad feeling.

The two flew up to where they were floating directly above us. Gohan and I drew from our image training on the ship to do some slightly tricky ki manipulation - hiding our ki while simultaneously actually concentrating it and powering up. You can't entirely hide your ki while concentrating it, but you can make it seem small enough to only show up as 2 or 3 on a scouter. They probably read that and thought that they'd pick us off like nothing. They decided to attack our spaceship first, though, and before we could do anything, they blasted it beyond the ability to take off.

That made us really angry. That ship might have been our only chance at getting back to Earth. They floated there, taunting us.

"Gohan," I whispered, "Release your ki."

Gohan and I showed our full power, and those two unlucky scouts' faces clearly reflected that they'd made a bad decision in coming after us. They weren't totally weak - I'd say their powers were about 100 or 200 - but against Gohan and I, it was no contest. We moved too fast for them to see, and killed them both with one blow from each of us. Well, that was one threat gone. Gohan and I congratulated ourselves a little, and Bulma just about had a fit.

Really, the incident with the scouts haunts me as much as anything on Namek. I feel dirty about that. I have to say that I enjoyed it. As doomed, trapped and helpless as I felt in my situation, it gave me no small amount of perverse pleasure to know that it was still well within my power to ensure the doom of lesser beings. In that moment, I felt powerful, and it felt great. Now, if we had let them escape they would have informed Frieza about us, and then we would really have been in trouble. Also, it isn't like they wouldn't have killed us without a moment's hesitation if they could have. All that is perfectly true, but no matter how much I rationalize, I always come back to the fact that I killed someone and I enjoyed it. As if that wasn't enough, Gohan, who was only 5 years old, took his first life under my command. It makes me feel like a monster. I can only take comfort in the fact that we weren't really the agressors.

I was actually feeling a tiny bit better about our chances then, probably because I'd done something. Bulma, though, was inconsolable. She knelt before the ruined ship, crying. "It's all over," she said over and over. I began to feel anxious. We couldn't stay where we were because there would probably be stronger people coming. We salvaged what we could from the ship and tried to find a good place to hide. It wasn't easy, because most of Namek is pretty open. We couldn't fly, either, because you can't really fly and hide your ki at the same time, and we'd be detected. We had to walk, and Bulma was too frightened and despondent to move very quickly. Gohan tried to comfort her a little, but I was too focused on surviving to care. After several minutes, we did find a cave, and just in time. We ran in there and hid just as we felt strong ki approaching very near. We saw a group of about a dozen fly by us very quickly. They moved so quickly that we barely saw them, but Gohan and I could feel them, and they felt like monsters. All of them were strong - some as strong as Vegeta, or nearly so - but it was one of them in particular, a very peculiar looking thing second from the lead, that we noticed.

Have you ever read about sunspots? If you took them by themselves, they would glow very brightly, but the glow of the rest of the sun is so bright that they seem pitch black in comparison. That's kind of what it felt like. The others were incredibly strong, but with him among them we could barely notice. The power felt so great, and so terrible, that we just froze. My entire body shook uncontrollably. What we were feeling could only belong to a monster.

As soon as I could breathe again, which was probably a good half a minute later, I told Bulma to check the dragon ball radar. She did, and she told me what I'd already been thinking - that group was carrying four of the dragon balls. Things felt more hopeless than ever. I didn't know how we could ever get the balls away from monsters like that. Bulma also saw on the radar that they were heading toward a fifth dragon ball, which had to mean that they knew how to locate them somehow. I decided that we had to check that out, so Gohan and I set out to the place that the radar had indicated. We ran instead of flying so that we could suppress our ki more effectively. I hadn't ran when I'd wanted to get somewhere quickly in a long time, and I was kind of surprised how quickly we did move. Although the place was a pretty good distance away, we got there in just a few minutes.

We crawled up to a high cliff ledge and looked down. We saw a village consisting of a garden and several buildings that looked very similar in design to the spaceship that we had come in. The buildings were simple, but very well made and not the least bit crude. The group that we had felt before was going all throughout the village and rifling through the buildings. They were all wearing Saiyan-type armor and scouters. Most of them didn't feel that strong. Three of the group weren't moving, however. They remained in a spot to one side of the village. In the center was a small, incredibly strange-looking creature with a head that looked almost like a helmet and two obsidian black horns, floating in a round device. He was the one with the amazing power that we'd felt before. On either side of him stood his right hand men. I believe that they were called Zarbon and Dodoria, and they were both incredibly strong, although nothing close to their master. Zarbon looked almost like a human, and a handsome one at that. Dodoria was a large, squat pinkish thing with horns coming out at odd places. Each of the two was carrying two dragon balls, much bigger ones than on Earth. I was somewhat curious at the fact that I couldn't see Vegeta anywhere.

The various weaker soldiers forcibly led creatures out of the buildings, and then we finally saw real Namekians. They looked just like Piccolo and Kami-sama, although varied in shape and size and facial features. As I recall, there were three older ones and two children. The soldiers led the group to where the strong creature was floating.

"Greetings," said the creature, "I am called Frieza." He spoke with a tone that was very polite and refined, but chilling just the same.

I assumed that Frieza was the boss of some group or army. I had no idea. Frieza was quite a presence in our galaxy for some time. His hobby was to collect planets, and almost as often, to destroy them by his own hand. It was Frieza who killed most of the Saiyan race, enslaved the rest, and destroyed their home planet. He commanded an enormous army. Throughout the entire galaxy, except backwoods planets like Earth that news usually doesn't get to, Frieza's might was legendary and feared. For many years, life in the galaxy followed one of three paths: Either you were very lucky and never met Frieza, you were sort of lucky and he considered you worth keeping around, or you were slaughtered. That was it. That all changed on Planet Namek.

"I am collecting your dragon balls," continued Frieza. "Where is the dragon ball here?"

The Namek who seemed to be the Village Elder spoke. (His name was actually Muri, but I wouldn't learn that until the whole ordeal was over.) "I... I don't know what you're talking about..." he said. Frieza shook his head and chuckled. He then told him about another Namekian that they had killed. That Namekian had told them that they only gave the dragon balls to great heroes. As Frieza put it, "He was being so stubborn, so we killed another as a lesson." We were shocked. How terrible Frieza was. He would kill anyone just for effect. You know, I mentioned earlier that I believe that everyone deserves a second chance. If there's an exception to that in the universe, it's definitely Frieza. He was just pure evil. It's impossible to know of Frieza without hating him.

As he continued, we learned more about the Namekian dragon balls. Apparently, the balls had been made by the Namekian Great Elder or Saichourou, and he had delegated seven village elders to hold the balls. They would only give them to someone who they deemed worthy. Frieza said that the first elder had refused, so they killed him.

"After that," said Frieza, "The next three were happy to oblige."

"Liar!" shouted Muri. "The elders would never give the dragon balls to you!"

"No, really," said Frieza, "They all obliged happily when we did this. Mr. Zarbon?"

Without even setting down his dragon balls, Zarbon flew at one of the adult Namekians and killed him with a single kick. The other screamed and attacked him with a blast, which he dodged, causing it to hit and kill one of Frieza's weaker men. Zarbon blasted him to death quickly. It was terrible to watch, but there was nothing we could do. The Namekian that he had just killed was as strong as Gohan or I.

"Well, how do you feel about it now?" said Frieza.

"Why do you want the dragon balls?" asked Muri.

"Oh, merely eternal life for myself."

That was another red flag to me. I seemed to remember Vegeta wanting the dragon balls for that same reason, so it was pretty certain that he wasn't with Frieza. I realized, though, that because of the armor he must have been with him at some point. I didn't quite make the connection that he was rebelling yet, though.

Muri refused to give the dragon ball to Frieza, even if it meant his death. In turn, Frieza threatened to kill the children. The Namekian was horrified. "Not even you could be such a monster--!" he said. The Namekian children clung to him and cried. I was so angry that it hurt. I couldn't believe how cruel Frieza was.

Just then, three younger Nameks arrived. I could tell that they had substantial power, but they were suppressing it. They came obviously intending to fight. When Frieza's men read their powers on the scouters, they thought that it was only 1000, and all of the weaker soldiers charged the three Namekians. When they released their true power, though, it was much higher, and they fought valiantly against the soldiers, killing most of them. It gave us a lot of hope to see them fighting back like that and doing so well. All the while, though, Zarbon, Dodoria, and Frieza just sat and watched, seeming only mildly bothered. Finally, after the Namekians had defeated almost all of the soldiers, Frieza ordered Dodoria to kill them. He put down his dragon balls to comply when Muri suddenly blasted him in the face. It didn't affect Dodoria much, but it destroyed his scouter. The Namekian elder leapt high into the air and blasted two more scouters, and I realized that he'd destroyed all of them. That was smart of him, and it was probably that brave move that kept us alive for a long time on Namek. It's hard to hide from people with scouters. He probably did it to try and stop them from finding the rest of the villages.

Dodoria got really mad about the scouters and flew after Muri, but Frieza ordered him to kill the young ones first. They tried to fight him, but it was hopeless. Dodoria just slaughtered them. It was like torture to have to sit and watch that. He put his fist right through one of them. There was blood everywhere. Oh, Kami, I still have nightmares.

Having seen all that, Muri finally submitted to Frieza and agreed to give him the dragon ball. "First," he said, "Promise you won't do anything to the children." Frieza only grinned in response. The bastard. Gohan started to lose it right around then. I saw him shaking with anger, and I tried to calm him down. I was worried that he'd attack and get us both killed.

Muri gave Frieza the dragon ball, but he also wanted to know where the other balls were. The Namek refused to tell him.

"Dear me," said Frieza in a voice like he was dealing with a stubborn child, "I guess you and the children will have to die, after all."

"No!" shouted Muri, and Dodoria hit him. Muri told the children to run and tried to throw himself at Frieza and the others, but Frieza just extended a hand and shot an impossibly fast ki blast from his finger, going over Muri's shoulder and killing one of the children. Dodoria grabbed Muri and snapped his neck. Only one Namekian child was still alive. He tried to run, but Dodoria was soon right above him.

At this point, Gohan was beyond control. Despite my efforts to hold him back, he screamed and flew at Dodoria, kicking him into a cliff wall. I silently uttered a long string of profanity to myself - that was exactly what I'd been afraid would happen. We were no match for these people. Dodoria started to get back up, but I attacked him while he was still off-balance, grabbed the Namekian child, screamed, "Gohan, you idiot! Run!" and flew away as quickly as I could. We never would have gotten away with it except for the fact that Frieza and his men were confused for a little while because they didn't know who we were.

We flew as fast as we could manage. Gohan wanted to go back and fight, but I screamed "just keep going!" His attack on Dodoria had been brave, but to actually stay and fight him would be suicide. Our only chance was to get away. As fast as we were flying, however, Dodoria still caught up to us easily. I panicked as I felt his huge ki approaching us, and I realized that I'd have to stay back and fight him a little. I could only think of two things that I could do. The first would have been to kill Dodoria with a Kienzan, but I thought to myself that if he dodged it, which he probably would, then I'd be dead before I had the time to set up another one. The other idea I had seemed to be a better bet, but the only problem was that it involved a move that I'd never actually done before. Not having much choice, I tossed the alarmed little Namekian to Gohan and turned, without stopping, to face Dodoria and perform a Taiyoken.

In case you don't remember from when I've mentioned it earlier, the Taiyoken is a useful ki manipulation move that produces a lot of light very quickly and blinds anyone who sees it temporarily. All I knew about the move at the time was what I'd heard from Tenshinhan - you press your index and middle fingers on the temples of your forehead, and concentrate and release a lot of ki starting from there. The result is hopefully a diffuse energy release in the form of light. I didn't do it quite right that time, but I did well enough to blind Dodoria pretty effectively. While he stopped to claw at his eyes, Gohan and I headed for lower ground and hid. Actually, Gohan didn't really have any idea what was going on or what I'd just done to Dodoria, but he hid when I told him to. I was pretty pleased with myself - my little plan had gone perfectly. Dodoria flew all around the area, screaming in anger, but he couldn't find us without his scouter. I allowed myself a sigh of relief, thinking that we'd escaped death that time.

However, Dodoria did something unexpected. I saw him suddenly turn calm and rise high into the air. He brought his arms back as if forming a ki blast. Fortunately, I realized what he was doing and managed to grab both Gohan and the Namekian and fly out of the way just before it hit. Dodoria blasted a good mile radius of the planet to rubble just in the hopes that he'd get us in there somewhere. It was pretty scary. What a psycho. He looked around and was pretty satisfied with his handiwork, so he left. We never saw Dodoria again or even felt his ki after that. Probably he was another of Vegeta's victims. I think that I remember Vegeta mentioning that he'd killed "Zarbon and Dodoria" at some point. Oh well - somehow, I think the universe will get along fine without the late Mr. Dodoria. I certainly don't miss him.

I let the little Namekian go after he told me that he could fly on his own. He looked nervous, but he hadn't lost his calm, which is really admirable when you think about it. He'd just seen his entire village massacred, and barely escaped the same himself. Even us saving him must have been pretty traumatic, as there was a lot of grabbing him and running away and even throwing him around a bit. I made some effort to be gentle with the kid, but I really didn't have a lot of time to think about that while we were running from Dodoria. He floated in front of me and kind of pierced me with his eyes. At that point, he didn't really know who we were, or anything about us besides the fact that we'd just saved his life. I have to wonder how much he really trusted us then, because we were very alien to him.

The Namekian Child thanked me for saving him. I told him to thank Gohan, because he's the one who stuck his neck out.

"But without you, Kuririn, we'd all have died," said Gohan. His voice was very grateful and kind of admiring.

"Whatever," I said. I didn't feel like taking any compliments from Gohan. I felt too much like a coward. I wonder what it says about me that I would have just let Dodoria kill that kid, had it been up to me. I wouldn't have felt good about it, but I would have. My rationale at the time was that we couldn't do anything, we were too weak, but that wasn't really true, was it? After all, Gohan took the chance and we did manage to save the child. That's just how it is, I guess. I feel badly about a lot of the decisions I've made in my lifetime, but when you're making decisions that mean life or death for you and others, there's really no other way to feel. It's very hard. That's why I'm grateful that I've played the follower more often than the leader like I did that day, and why I've never been jealous of Goku. I've been there. I know how hard it is to make decisions like that. If you aren't careful, you can tear yourself up over it, and destroy your own soul from the inside.

The three of us flew around for several minutes trying to get back to the cave where Bulma was hiding, but before we got there we felt a powerful ki coming toward us quickly. I thought that it was Dodoria again or maybe Zarbon, so we hid again and suppressed our ki. Gohan looked up to find our assailant, and he suddenly shuddered in shock. I looked up and saw to my horror that it wasn't Zarbon or Dodoria who was after us - it was Vegeta. Even worse, he wasn't wearing a scouter, which meant that Vegeta must have realized the ability to sense ki, taking away a major advantage of ours. As Vegeta looked around furiously, I clutched my body around the Namekian and crouched as low as I possibly could. That's one of the few times when I've actually wished that I was smaller than I am. About an inch tall would have been nice. Just as long as Vegeta couldn't see me.

Vegeta's search suddenly became a lot less random. He focused on the rock we were hiding behind. He must have been sensing the Namekian's ki, because Gohan and I were definitely suppressing ours all the way to 0. As Vegeta started to approach us, my heart was pounding. I really thought that we were going to die. We'd have fought him, of course, but it's unlikely we would have gotten away. For once, though, the odds went our way. Just before Vegeta saw us, an alien fish leapt out of the water nearby, making Vegeta think that that was the ki he'd felt. After floating there alarmingly close for a few seconds and frowning, he left. I think I held my breath for another fifteen seconds easy before collapsing on the ground in intense relief. I just about had a heart attack. I don't think I've ever felt so relieved just to be alive. Even though we hadn't actually fought, I felt utterly exhausted just from being so nervous. I just wanted to rest.

As we went back to the cave, keeping our kis as low as we could manage, I really regretted coming to Namek. I wanted so much to be able to bring back Yamucha and the others, but between Frieza, Vegeta, and everything, it sure seemed like if anything, we'd be adding to the body count with our own lives.

--END OF CHAPTER EIGHTEEN--


	19. Hidden Powers

~Chapter 19: Hidden Powers~

Bulma had managed to set up a capsule house in the cave where we'd left her. She met us outside of it. We had kind of a weird confrontation then, because she and the Namekian saw each other and weren't sure what to make of each other. At first, the alien child didn't understand what she was. As we learned then, there's no such thing as gender in the Namekian race. That was pretty shocking to me. Without even realizing it, I'd been subconciously assuming that they reproduce the same way that humans do. We had to explain the concept of male and female to the kid, and he looked at us like we were crazy.

Bulma had a surprising piece of news for us when we got back. She said that she'd just contacted the Earth, and that Goku had recovered and was coming to Namek in another spaceship - and this one would only take 5 days to get there! Not only that, she said, but he was also going to be following some really amazing training on the way. I don't remember for certain, but I think that I might have cried. We were all deleriously happy, except for the poor Namekian kid, who was just confused. That was the first time since our ship was damaged that we'd really had any hope of getting back home alive. As usual, hope came in the form of Goku. Funny how that worked.

While we talked over some reheated meals, we learned quite a bit more about the Namekians. The name of the child that we'd rescued from Dodoria was Dende. He explained to us that the reason he wasn't eating any of his food was that Namekians don't eat food - they only need water. Again, it was a shock. Just when we were starting to get used to the strange way that these aliens look, we found out that there was even more that seperated us from them. It was definitely a new experience to discover that all of these things we'd always thought to be universal to all people didn't apply to these aliens - yet they were people, in the most important sense of the word. They just weren't human. To understand that, a person has to make an adjustment to their way of thinking, and it isn't easy at first. From the way that Dende was looking at us, I could tell that he was going through the same thing with us.

I was really hungry, and I wolfed down my meal. Between bites, I told Bulma what had happened to Gohan and I. She commiserated. Gohan added his own touches to the account here and there. We were pretty enthusiastic just from the relief of having survived.

I don't think that we were there for more than about ten minutes, though, before we sensed more Namekians dying. It felt like a whole village dying off alarmingly fast, and I immediately recognized the powerful, evil ki doing the killing - it was Vegeta. I leapt up from my seat, and so did Gohan - I knew that I didn't have to explain to him what was happening. I gave a terse explanation, though, for Bulma's sake.

Dende became very frightened when he heard what was happening, but we didn't take much notice of him. Instead, we started frantically trying to think of a plan of action. We must not have been able to think of much, because I remember feeling very frustrated. We had all but forgotten about Dende until he spoke up.

"Please!" he said. "Who are you? Why are you here? Can you save us?"

We all turned and looked at him. Suddenly, I realized how important Dende was to us. His cooperation with us could be the only thing that kept us from getting killed, or Frieza from getting the dragon balls. More than that, though, I really did feel like we owed the kid an explanation. He was very scared, his entire race was being slaughtered and the only potential hope he could see was in these strange aliens who had, for some reason, saved his life. We had to let him know that we were on his side, and why.

Gohan, Bulma, and I all contributed to the explanation. We told him that we were from a planet called Earth, and how a Namekian had come to our planet long ago, etc, up through the Saiyan attack. We tried to make it quick, but we were still pretty thorough. After hearing our story, Dende seemed to trust us. He said that he'd take us to see the Great Elder.

We had already figured that Vegeta probably had a dragon ball from the village he'd just wiped out. Since Frieza had already collected five of the balls, that left just one unaccounted for. When Dende told us that Saichourou had that last ball, I winced hard. As much as I hated to go back out where I'd be exposed to everyone on the planet who was out to kill me(and had the strength to do so without any trouble), I knew that we probably wouldn't have another chance at keeping a dragon ball away from Frieza.

Dende and I left shortly after that. I told the others to wait - no point in putting Gohan in danger. Dende said that the Elder's place was too far to walk, so we had to fly even at the risk of being sensed by Vegeta. I don't know for how long we flew. It must have been at least several hours. It might have been more than a whole didn't talk much. I had a lot of time to reflect - well, really to worry. I worried that even when Goku came, he wouldn't be strong enough. I realized that even if I managed to get the dragon ball, I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I was very afraid that we'd all end up dead.

I think that the thing I fear the most is to die with regrets on my conscience. We all have to die some time, but I feel that to die with regrets is to never know peace in the afterlife. Right then, it looked likely that I'd die, and I had two pretty sizable regrets. One of them was that I still felt I'd wasted my life. I'd never had a girlfriend, I'd never had a real job. I felt as if I'd never achieved anything in my life. I had spent most of it training in the martial arts, and where had that gotten me? What really made me feel bad, though, was the thought of not being able to bring back the people that had died fighting the Saiyans. They were all good men, and they didn't deserve to die like that. Our purpose in going to Namek was to resurrect them, but by that time even surviving seemed unlikely. I found myself apologizing to Yamucha in my thoughts. I wonder if he could hear me.

The trip to the Great elder didn't go uneventfully. We were detected by Vegeta. He didn't actually see us, but I felt his ki approach. I panicked, grabbed Dende, and hid. Fortunately, before Vegeta could find us, he was distracted by another powerful fighter. Soon they started to fling ki blasts at each other. There was a huge explosion. I was just in awe of thier power. I wasn't even in thier league. I grabbed Dende again and flew away, thinking to myself, "Please, just let them kill each other."

I was too frightened to fly at anything less than full speed after that. I think that it still took another few hours to get there.

The Namekian Great Elder, or Saichourou, was the only survivor of a cataclysm that wiped out all of the Namekians a long time ago. All of the population of Namek when we got there - about a hundred or so - were his children. He lived in a building atop a crag that was easily the most visible place on the entire planet. It's really amazing that Frieza didn't find it before I got there.

We were met by a Namekian named Nail who was a dead ringer for Piccolo. He had a much stronger ki than any other Namekian. He was probably even stronger than Vegeta. I was amazed by the amount of beings out in space whose power is so far above what we'd achieved on Earth. When I think about it, what we saw on Namek only scratched the surface. It's a big galaxy out there. I wonder sometimes, if there's all of this to be found in our galaxy alone, what might be found in other galaxies. Food for thought.

Nail led us in to see the elder. He was enormous. His body took up half of the room. He spoke with a kindly tone, but he was very worried and sad. Somehow, he seemed to know everything that was going on.

It took me a minute to gather myself and speak to the elder. I was very intimidated by him. I'll never forget the strange, warm majesty that he seemed to have about him. Even as his planet was being laid waste and everything was going to hell, he seemed be at peace with everything. I asked as respectfully as possible about the dragon ball.

"Come here, son of Earth," he said to me. "Let me probe your past." I had no idea what he was talking about, but I went to the spot beside him that he indicated. He slowly lifted on of his great arms and brought his enormous palm to rest on my head. It felt leathery and warm.

As the elder held his hand there, he seemed to learn everything about my past. I heard him mumbling about Piccolo and the Saiyans. After several seconds, he announced that my intentions were good, and I would have the dragon ball. Nail handed it to me.

"But," the elder said, "I must warn you that you will probably not get your wish..."

"Huh?"

"My life will last but a few more days. When I die, the dragon balls will also expire."

Well, that hurt. I was forced to give up the last shreds of hope that I had on that point. I wrestled with that for a few seconds. I couldn't bring back my friends. I probably couldn't even survive. But it meant a lot to me that he'd trust me with the dragon ball. I told him that I'd protect it with my life anyway. He smiled at me. I was about to ask for permission to leave, and then something amazing happened.

"By the way," he said casaully, "You have exceptional strength for an Earthling. You have still more strength inside, I can awaken it if you like."

I laughed at the thought. I told him that that was kind of him, but he was mistaken, I'd reached my limit. He pressed my head lightly.

That makes about number four in the top moments of my life. Have you ever had all of your stregth and abilities increased to about a dozen times what they were in the space of an instant? That's what happened to me. What a rush! It was like an explosion. It was like being reborn. For the first time, my ki flared up brilliantly around me. My ki flare is white, i discovered. I was so happy, I practically squealed in gratitude. Heh heh. For what it's worth, the elder seemed very pleased to have made me happy.

It occurred to me quickly that Gohan probably had a lot of latent power as well. I was so excited by that thought that I left almost immediately to go get him. I was amazed by how fast I could fly. I broke the sound barrier for sure. It took me probably a little over an hour to get back to Bulma. I was so happy that I forgot entirely about avoiding detection by Vegeta, and I didn't even notice his ki when I flew right by it. When I reached Bulma, Gohan had left. She told me that Gohan was going after a dragon ball. She didn't have time to say anything else, I don't think, before Vegeta caught up with me.

My excitement faded immediately, replaced again by fear and desperation. So I was a dozen times stronger - so what? At most, that meant Vegeta might have to hit me twice. I felt so angry at myself. My mind raced. Amazingly, I had an impulse to attack. I told my impulse to shut up.

Vegeta gave us a knowing, chilling smirk. "I have complete power over you", it said. I believed it. He left us with that and turned to face someone who was just arriving: Zarbon, Frieza's henchman. They exchanged some trash talk - there was obviously some deep bad blood between those two. Zarbon then transformed. He shifted shape into this... the only word I can think of for it is monster. It was even more disgusting than Dodoria. When he transformed, his ki became a lot more powerful - it was shocking. He hadn't just been supressing his power, he'd been hiding it in another shape. He and Vegeta started to fight immediately.

It was a hell of a fight. They were both incredibly powerful, but Vegeta was good, and ruthless. Before long, he had Zarbon on the ropes. He laughed and screamed as he beat him into the ground. I think that at some point I tried to get Bulma and run away, but Vegeta turned and threw a few stray blasts at me to let me know that that wasn't going to happen.

Zarbon was desperate. "I'm still stronger than you, Vegeta!" he screamed, almost in denial.

Vegeta grinned so hard I thought his face was going to crack. Then, I learned the truth about Saiyans and why they're so strong and resourceful. As Vegeta cheerfully explained to the doomed Zarbon, whenever a Saiyan comes back from a near-death experience, their strength increases tremendously. For this reason, their potential is practically boundless.

Zarbon attacked one more time. Fighting with the last surge of strength that comes from desperation, he managed to make things fairly difficult for Vegeta, but he was soon wounded fatally. He begged for his life, but Vegeta killed him off with a final blast.

Vegeta stood there for a few seconds. Then, slowly, horribly, he turned to face me. He exuded defiance and confidence. I grinded my teeth, terrified and hating Vegeta with all of my heart. I hated him for making me feel so helpless.

He told me to give him the dragon ball. I did, and he left. It was incredible luck that he left us alive. It generally wasn't Vegeta's style to do that. He did it pretty much on a whim - as I think he put it, "I suppose I have no need to waste my energy squashing bugs." Of course, I had lost the dragon ball, but even though Vegeta kept talking as if he had all of the dragon balls, I had a feeling that Gohan had one of them, like Bulma had told me when I'd arrived. So, we waited there for him. Luckily, I was right.

As soon as Gohan got there, we left and hid somewhere else, because we knew that Vegeta would be coming back for us. Man, I bet he was pretty pissed off when he found out that his dragon ball had been taken. I decided that I should take Gohan to the Great Elder like I'd planned. At that point, my hopes hung on the Elder's power boost making Gohan stronger than Vegeta.

It took us about four days to get to the Elder's. We flew very slowly, suppressing our kis as much as we could. I'd learned my lesson about being careless and getting detected. Unlike the trip with Dende, this time we did talk. I did a lot of explaining in the beginning, and  
whenever there was a lot of quiet, before long I'd hear a "Hey, Kuririn?" from Gohan. He didn't have much in particular to talk about, he just needed a reassuring voice. I did my best.

Eventually, we sped up, figuring that it was taking too long and that Vegeta would never find us from how far away we'd gotten. Of course, he caught up with us in another half hour. We were almost there when he finally caught up. I tried to send Gohan ahead and keep Vegeta busy, but he just went around me. Vegeta, Nail, Gohan and I all met outside the Elder's house. Gohan had been powered up by the Elder, but I was disappointed to sense that he'd only been made a bit stronger than I had.

Before anything else could happen, Dende rushed out of the building and shouted, "Everyone, someone's coming!"

I felt a strong ki approaching the planet. At first I thought it was Goku, but it felt like more than one person. Vegeta suddenly seemed terrified.

"No," he said, "It can't be... the Ginyu Force!"

As you've probably already guessed, it was. I'll talk about them next chapter, as this one is getting a bit long winded already.

--END OF CHAPTER NINETEEN--


	20. Strange Friends and Stranger Enemies

~Chapter 20: Strange Friends and Stranger Enemies~

When I write (this is my third book), I usually start to fall into a routine. I think that I've done so more than ever with this book because it can help me to dig into the past. Sometimes it's hard to recall things that I haven't thought about in a long time. I sit here and wear my old hat and one of my favorite shirts. I have a tall cup of iced coffee, and I lean back into my favorite horrendously incorrect writing posture. I look pretty ridiculous, if I do say so myself.

Recently, Marron caught me when I was fully in the writing zone. She stared at me amusedly for a few seconds and then slipped away. I shrugged it off, but a few minutes later, I felt a presence hovering behind me. I turned around, and I saw both Marron and 18 staring at me.

"What?" I exclaimed, and they both started laughing. Well, that's okay. I like to hear them laugh. Man, I love my family.

Aw shoot, I'm getting sappy on you. Sorry. I guess I should get back on topic.

Vegeta was terrified of the Ginyu force. His fear was obviously genuine. He immediately dropped any intentions he had of killing us or whatever it was he was planning to do. He actually appealed to Gohan and I, telling us to give him the dragon ball so he "could become immortal - it's the only way to defeat the Ginyu force." Initially, of course, I refused, but I didn't really have a choice. Between Vegeta shouting at me and the fact that I did feel several very strong ki approaching, I had to admit there didn't seem to be another option. I still wanted to revive our friends, but Nail told us that the balls grant three wishes on Namek, so we might still be able to do that. I finally gave in, but I hated it. Can you imagine having to support your worst enemy? I felt like I was going to explode with frustration and rage.

So, Vegeta, Gohan and I all took off together, suddenly allies. In retrospect, that's about par for the course. Piccolo, Vegeta, Buu, and even 18 were all considered to be our worst enemy at some point. I didn't trust Vegeta in the slightest, of course. Yet, I don't think that we were ever really enemies again after that.

We had to stop at the spot where we'd left Bulma and our dragon ball and retrieve it. The Ginyu Force were approaching fast, so we basically just picked it up - I think I shouted something to Bulma, but there wasn't really time to explain - and flew away as fast as we could. Poor Bulma. I bet she really freaked out, especially since Vegeta was with us.

We almost made it to the dragon balls Vegeta had stashed before the Ginyu force arrived. Actually, we thought that we had made it, but they appeared in front of us just before we made it. They were so fast that I couldn't even feel them coming. I don't think even Vegeta could.

The Ginyu force was Frieza's elite team of henchmen, only called in for emergencies. There were five of them. I won't bother trying to remember their names. As far as I can gather it, they were each mutations from a different race, probably conquered or sent into extinction by Frieza, that were born much, much stronger than anyone else in their species. The shortest of them came up to my chest. The tallest must have been 11 feet at least. It's interesting when you think about it - almost a shame that they're all dead now. I wonder if that's what I am, a mutation. There's no way I could've become this strong if I was normal.

Their leader was named Ginyu. He was a 7-foot tall purplish thing with dark black horns. As he taunted us, I just stood there and felt their power. It nearly brought me to my knees. I had never felt anything like it before. They had the sort of power that could easily level a small continent. Ginyu himself was even stronger than the rest of them, and one of them... the little one, I think he was called Guld or Gurd or something like that... was totally weak. Of course, that's only in comparison to the rest of them. He might have been as strong as Nappa.

We did try to keep them from getting the two dragon balls that we already had. Vegeta tried to get rid of his by throwing it, but they were too fast. He desperately ordered me to destroy mine, and I tried to do so without hesitation, but my fist just struck air. They were just too fast. Ginyu took off with the balls, leaving the rest of them to deal with us. It was terrible to see him taking them away, but by this time, I was almost numb to such shocks. Sigh. You know, I don't know whether you've gotten the impression, but Namek was exhausting. I'd been constantly fleeing, fighting, hiding, trying to talk my way out of deadly situations, and to top it all off I'd had maybe 6 hours of sleep in the past four or five days. As terrified as I was, I simultaneously just wanted to go to sleep. You'd think that such things would cease to matter, but trust me, they don't.

With their leader gone, the Ginyu force soon shed its image and was revealed as it truly was, which was, in total honesty, a pack of complete clowns. They talked like they were in a bad movie, they were dumb as rocks, and they knew next to nothing about fighting. (Actually, I have to say that Ginyu was the exception there - he may have been ridiculous, but he was very good.) Everything they did was more than a little... well... off. I was still terrified, but I was pretty confused too. They actually played a game of rock, paper, scissors to determine who'd fight us. I swear to you that I am not making this up.

Gurd was selected to fight us. He'd fight just Gohan and I, as the agreement among the force went. I couldn't believe the arrogance. Nothing was serious to them. Gurd seemed downright disgusted to be reduced to fighting us. Well, until Gohan and I powered up, that is. After that, he was mostly panicking and screaming. We attacked him with everything we had, literally fighting for our lives. We used a strategy where we moved quickly to both sides of him and attacked. It would have worked well, but Gurd was a talented thing. I guess he had the ability to stop time temporarily, although I really don't understand how that's possible. Whatever it was, every time we almost had him he suddenly disappeared and was somewhere else. He hid behind things, not knowing that we could just sense his ki. Every time we immediately adjusted and came at him furiously. Finally, he jumped out in front of us and screamed something.

We found ourselves frozen in mid-air. I strained and strained, but I couldn't seem to move. That's the third time I've been paralyzed by telekinesis. To make an obvious point, it doesn't get any more fun. He threw something sharp at me. I remember seeing it hurling toward me, with enough weight behind it to seriously mess me up. My mind was like a fire alarm, screaming, "get away", but I just couldn't. At the last possible moment, though, I managed to move out of the way. Gurd's concentration must have broken. I guess that getting your head chopped off by Vegeta would do that.

There's an extremely vivid image of my mind of Gurd's bloated head rolling around on the ground. It actually talked to Vegeta, which was beyond creepy.

The head of Gurd complained to Vegeta. He said that it wasn't fair.

"Poor Gurd," said Vegeta, and he killed him with a minor ki blast. I tried to thank Vegeta for saving my life. He responded with an indignant denial accompanied by posturing. Really, I think that Vegeta just had a huge ego problem.

The rest of the Ginyu force stood there with their mouths hanging open for a second. "This is it," I thought. In a moment, they would realize that this was for real, they would stop playing games, and we'd be dead within minutes. Surely, the death of one of their own would be enough to give them a grip on reality.

Of course, I didn't know them very well. They started to Roshambo to see who'd go next. Again, I swear that I'm not making this up. I wish I were.

One of them came forward to fight us. He was a big, muscular bruiser, and he was probably the most ridiculous of all of them. He stood in front of us and struck an utterly ludicrous pose. Vegeta, on the other hand, didn't play any games. He screamed and powered up enormously, veins bulging on his head. Whatever the circumstances, right then I was damn glad he was on my side.

Vegeta flew at him and launched an attack like you've never seen. He hit him hard and kept going. His attack ended with a series of enormous ki blasts, the force of which knocked my flat on my back. During all that time, the big warrior didn't make any effort to attack or dodge, he just took everything that Vegeta threw at him. After the dust cleared, he got back up, barely fazed. What a wave of hopelessness washed over us then. It would only get worse.

He just beat the hell out of Vegeta after that. He didn't even use any ki blasts. Vegeta tried to fight back, but it was mostly useless. It was horrible. I have to confess that the whole time, what I was thinking was "I'm next." Not very heroic, huh?

As he set up a big finishing attack that would kill Vegeta for sure, I decided we might as well act since we were dead anyway. Gohan saved Vegeta while I attacked the enormous alien just as he was unleashing a powerful blast from his mouth. I kicked him in the head. I hit him so hard that his mouth clamped shut and he fell over. He got back up.

He was hurt and mad. He asked his teammates for permission to kill me even though I was their territory. "Oh, all right," They said.

For a second, he faced me - a tower, a mountain of muscle, a terrible giant. I froze in terror. He said something - I didn't catch it - and then his foot collided nanoseconds later with my abdomen. The world flashed red and black, things snapped inside me, and the next thing I remember is landing - painfully, more than once - several hundred yards away. My bones were broken. I could not move. I could barely breathe. I was in agony. I lay on the ground and shook softly as my blood pooled in my cheek. I spat some of it out. Lord, it hurt, but I felt beyond pain. I wanted to die. I vaguely perceived Gohan running to my side. I just chanted "It's all over."

"No," the young child said, "It isn't over." He approached the alien to attack, and I stopped feeling sorry for myself. Gohan was so brave. He fought uselessly. He was beaten down. He staggered and fell.

The poor kid. "Stay down, just stay down," I whispered. He got up one more time, launched one last attack, and received a chop. I heard his neck break when he landed. I raged at it, at everything. There was nothing I could do. I felt like there was never anything I could do.

Fill in the blank. That's when Goku got there. It isn't his fault that he didn't arrive until then, of course. But, that time, too much had happened. Things had gone too far. I barely even felt relieved when he got there. I watched as he revived Gohan, and I accepted the senzu bean that Goku slid into my mouth. The pain faded, and I stood up. There was Goku, our savior. He was confident, even cheerful. The look on his face reminded me of when he was a little kid. I sighed at him. I had already given up. As far as I was concerned, we were already dead. I just felt sorry that Goku had to die too.

However, that isn't what happened. Goku gave the last senzu to Vegeta, and proceeded to take on the Ginyu force all by himself. I thought he was being arrogant. Really, he just didn't want us to get hurt. He defeated the big one we'd been fighting with one punch. He handled the other two easily - "You keep leaving yourselves open," he said. There he went again, as if by magic making all that we'd fought against, feared, and tried so hard to overcome look like a sad joke. Goku was merciful as he always is and gave all of them the chance to leave alive. It was quite admirable of him. I'd have killed them, myself. It pissed Vegeta off, of course, and he finished two of them off. One escaped.

Well, after I was done marveling at Goku, I finally snapped out of it and was thinking clearly again. I actually felt pretty good. It was almost as if the whole thing had never happened. As long as Goku was around, we were safe. We talked about the dragon balls, and somehow we came to the conclusion that they hadn't been used yet and we still had a chance to get our wish, so we were happy. Vegeta did make some prophetic statements about the strength of Frieza, but we ignored them for the most part.

That mood lasted for a golden five seconds or so, and then a bunch of things started happening at once. We sensed Frieza's ki moving and realized he was headed for the great elder, and the one who'd escaped came back with Ginyu. We left Goku and Vegeta to handle them, although we weren't sure that even Goku could handle Captain Ginyu, and we went to try and get the dragon balls before Saichourou got killed. Things were back to a suitable panic, I'd say.

Let's pause to breathe here. Get a snack or something. I am. It isn't good to take all of this stuff in at once.

Back? Okay.

We got the radar from Bulma, who complained at us a lot. I can't blame her, but, frankly, I didn't need that right then. I just ignored her.

Gohan and I found the dragon balls. They were buried near a spaceship that must have been Frieza's. We dug them up and arranged them. I felt strange, seeing our goal in front of me like that. There it was. We had gone through so much.

I tried to summon Shenlon, using the words Bulma'd taught me. Nothing happened. We didn't realize then that the Namekian dragon balls only worked if you said it in Namekian. Whoops. Then, things got really weird.

We felt two definitely evil ki approach, and we hid. Sure enough, two people arrived. One of them, however, was Goku, and he was wearing a scouter. The other one was the surviving member of the Ginyu force. I really should've known that something was up, but how could I suspect Goku? I got right out of my hiding spot and waved to him. I chatted to him as casually as you please about everything that'd happened. Gradually, though, I started to notice that his replies were very different from the ones I'd get when talking to Goku.

"Kuririn!" shouted Gohan. "That's not dad!"

Then Goku punched me.

Okay, I ought to clear this up before anyone gets confused. The person who punched me was not Goku. Goku would never hit me, unless we were sparring or something. It was - try to follow here, I know it's weird - Ginyu in Goku's body. Ginyu had this technique where he shouts "change!" and he switches bodies with someone. He didn't hold any pretense of being Goku after he hit me. In fact, he dutifully informed me of what I just told you. Like you, I didn't really buy it. I was scared to death. I thought that Goku was under hypnosis or something, and it had always been a secret fear of mine that we'd have to fight Goku.

Ginyu attacked us. We didn't do much but block and dodge. I was still trying to make sense of the whole thing. Then, things got even more complicated. Ginyu showed up - only it wasn't Ginyu, it was Goku in Ginyu's body. So, from here on where I say Goku, I mean Goku in Ginyu's body, and when I say Ginyu, I mean Ginyu in Goku's body, at least until the next body switch. Ow. My head hurts.

Goku told us to fight Ginyu. He said that we couldn't lose. Of course, against Goku as he was then we would have had no chance, but it wasn't the same. Ginyu didn't know how to use Goku's body. He couldn't get his power up. Gohan and I realized that we could fight him. We started to beat him up. He ordered the other one to attack, but Vegeta showed up then and took care of that. Gohan and I fought Ginyu. We beat him up pretty well, but I didn't want to hit too hard because I didn't want to hurt Goku's body. For that reason, we didn't really beat him. However, Vegeta soon got finished killing the other alien and was more than happy to help. He was a little too eager, in fact. He would have killed him.

Here's where things get hard to follow. Ginyu tried to switch to Vegeta's body, but Goku got in the way, getting his old body back, albeit beaten to a pulp. Ginyu went back to his original body, and made another try for Vegeta, who was very confused. However, Goku managed to throw a passing frog into the path of the change, and Ginyu became the frog. We let the Ginyu-frog live. It's conceivable that it's still alive, come to think of it, because all of the life forms on Namek were sent to Earth. At any rate, he's pretty harmless in that condition. He lacks the vocal chords necessary to say "change".

Gohan and I had to help Goku up. He was really injured. That jerk Vegeta. He didn't have to beat him up that badly. We put him in a healing chamber in Frieza's ship. Vegeta fitted Gohan and I with suits of rubber armor just like the kind the Saiyans and Frieza's army always wore. The stuff was really amazing. It was harder than anything, but light as a feather and flexible as, well, rubber. Their technology was so far ahead of ours. Actually, we were the only people from Earth ever to wear that armor. Some others had the chance, but refused to wear something associated with the Saiyans. For me, I say that anything that might increase my chances of not getting killed is a good thing.

I took off alone to the elder's to try and learn the password to the dragon balls, well aware that Frieza might be waiting there. Luck was on my side, though. I ran into Dende soon on the way, and he knew that you had to speak in Namekian. We made it back to Gohan quickly, and we had even more good luck - Vegeta had fallen asleep. Well, we really, really didn't want to make him immortal, so we very carefully snuck the dragon balls away from him. Talk about tense. We got somewhere that looked safe and summoned Porunga, the Namek equivalent of Shenlon. We hurried as much as possible, because we felt Frieza coming.

We were taken aback a bit at the sight of it. Porunga was enormous and very strange looking. The sky turned dark when he was summoned, which was actually a welcome relief from the constant day of Namek.

We tried to wish to revive all those who had died fighting the Saiyans on Earth, but the Namek balls could only revive one person per wish. We were left not really knowing what to do.

At that moment, Piccolo spoke to us. He was talking through Kaiô-sama. He had an idea that was better than anything we had - if we revived him, Kami- sama would be revived as well, and the Earth dragon balls would be restored. He told us to use the second wish to bring him to Namek so he could fight Frieza. We told Dende and got those wishes made, but Piccolo didn't appear. Then we realized that we had only wished for him to come to the planet, and he could be anywhere. We didn't have the time to worry about that, however. We had to hurry up and figure out what to use that last wish on before someone took it from us. We weren't fast enough.

Vegeta arrived, livid. He clearly intended to kill us, and to make it painful. Gohan yelped that there was still one more wish. I snapped at him for telling Vegeta, but it at least seemed to appease him. Vegeta threatened Dende to try and get him to make the wish, but Dende looked only at me; he was waiting for my decision. That really put me in a hell of a spot. I knew that it would be really bad to make Vegeta immortal, but I didn't know what other choice we had. I hated myself for it, but eventually I made a sort of half-decision that Vegeta was at least better than Frieza, and I told Dende to do it.

I can only imagine how things might have gone if Vegeta had been made immortal. However, he wasn't. Porunga disappeared before Dende could say the words. The sky turned light. The balls became stones.

Dende drooped where he stood. "The great elder... has passed away..."

I felt both tremendous relief and disbelief. I was thankful, but I felt guilty for being thankful that the great elder had died.

Something snapped in Vegeta. He looked as if he were having a seizure. He turned and started to approach me.

"You..." he said, his voice getting louder and angrier. "You did this..."

Before he got much further, he looked up. Slowly, we all looked up.

Standing on the cliff above us was Frieza. He smiled.

Things went generally downhill from there.

--END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-


	21. Frieza

~Chapter 21: Frieza~  
  
Torment is confronting Frieza. It's hell in the secular world.  
  
I'm over it now. It took me years, but I'm over it. I don't even have the nightmares anymore. My hands aren't even shaking as I type this. However, the memory still leaves a hollow feeling in my gut...  
  
We never really knew that much about Frieza. Even Vegeta, who lived oppressed by Frieza for most of his life, knew little - all he knew was that Frieza came in one day and enslaved everyone. I could speculate upon his origin - I've thought before that he might have come from a race where everyone had that kind of power, existing in another galaxy or a different plane from us. As the theory goes, Frieza saw our incredibly weak galaxy as his personal playground, and took pleasure in manipulating its inhabitants. He was so far removed from everyone else there in power that he never dreamed that one day a few of them would rise up and defeat him. His arrogance was his undoing. However, this is all pure speculation. We'll probably never know.  
  
Frieza spoke to us as a mother would reprimand a naughty child, smiling and keeping his polite manner. Glancing at the nullified dragon balls, he said, "My, my, now look what you've done..."  
  
I couldn't stop staring at him. I couldn't move.   
  
"And there's no sign of the Ginyu Special Force. Did you kill them? My goodness, aren't you industrious little tykes?"  
  
He flew down and stood in front of us. He didn't do it particularly quickly. He didn't look scary, and he was not much taller than I was. Still, I couldn't have imagined a more imposing sight. His power felt so much more overwhelming up close that I couldn't stop myself from trembling. If feeling the Ginyu Force's power nearly brought me to my knees, Frieza's nearly gave me a heart attack. From here on, my memory's like a video camera. It's all burned into my brain.  
  
His smile became less benevolent, and an edge crept into his tone. "Never, ever before," he said, "Has anyone made a fool out of Frieza."  
  
Abruptly, he screamed. "You maggots! I'll kill you all! I'll torture you to death inch by inch!"  
  
Gohan, Dende and I all flew out of his path, but Vegeta still faced him. He was clearly nervous and sweating, but he stood tall and smiled. "Don't think I'll be beaten so easily," he said. Man. Say what you want about Vegeta (and believe me, there's a lot to say), but he is incredibly brave. I'll never forget that it was he and he alone in the entire galaxy that had the guts to stand up to Frieza, as suicidal as it was. He deserves a lot of credit for that, whatever his motives might have been at the time.  
  
Frieza laughed at Vegeta's remark and powered up. His ki flare exploded around him like hellfire. A wave of terrified nausea swept through me. I finally found a few words upon my lips. I said that there was no way we could beat him. Frieza acted as if that was an understood fact.  
  
"We can beat him," said Vegeta. "Between the three of us, I know we can!"   
  
Everyone stared at him, surprised at his confidence. He went on to say that all three of us were getting stronger at an incredible rate. I was amazed by Vegeta's observance - he was right. Gohan and Vegeta kept breaking through power ceilings with their Saiyan abilities, and for some reason, even I was getting stronger with every passing moment. By that point, I might have been strong enough to qualify for the Ginyu Force. Not that it would end up mattering one iota. Not at all.  
  
Frieza attacked Vegeta with amazing speed and force, but Vegeta caught his fist, and they locked into a stalemate. It looked like Vegeta was really pushing himself, but he held it. After a few seconds, they broke apart, and Frieza seemed to be making a slight reevaluation of things. I was feverish with hope. Suddenly, he didn't seem so far above us. With all three of us, and Piccolo and Goku still coming, we COULD beat him.  
  
That was when Frieza transformed. Vegeta already seemed to know about Frieza's transformation; in fact, I think he prompted him.  
  
Frieza grinned evilly and hyped his transformation for a full minute. I wasn't sure what to make of it. I remembered Zarbon's transformation, and thought that it might be something like that. I really had no idea.  
  
Finally, Frieza burst out of his battle armor. That scared Gohan and I, but Vegeta was totally unimpressed. He actually laughed.  
  
"Oh, no!" he said. "This is the great transformation! The mighty Frieza has taken off his jacket!"  
  
Frieza screamed, and I felt his ki rise violently. He grew into this.... eight or nine foot tall form with long curved horns. Now he WAS scary-looking, but I was infinitely more afraid of his incredible power. It was so far above us. I had been stupid to ever have the slightest fraction of hope. You could not oppose Frieza. We'd been the dead from the moment we had challenged him.  
  
He raised his hand, and the ground shifted violently. There was an explosion far larger than the one that had laid waste to West Capital. Everyone flew to their own safety. I was going to do the same, but then I saw Dende. He wasn't fast enough to escape. He would die. I flew to him and carried him away. As I took hold of him, a large chunk of debris from the explosion hit me in the head, and I started bleeding from a large gash. It wouldn't trouble me for long.  
  
We floated - there was no ground left in the area. All of Vegeta's confidence seemed to have vanished. We were all very afraid.  
  
"Let me see," said Frieza, "Whom shall I send to hell first?"  
  
In nearly the very next moment, his horn was sticking through the front of my armor, my intestines, and the back of my armor. I didn't even see him move. There was a sickening crunch, or I think there was, or in my mind, there was. He had impaled me.  
  
You always read that in these situations, there's little pain due to all of the shock. At the first moment, I suppose, this was true. But I remember pain. You remember pain like that. He held me there for what must have been at least a minute, but felt like an eternity. My blood ran down his horn into his face. The world went white with pain. I don't know why I didn't pass out or faint or something. I wish I had. I didn't lose consciousness until he threw me off.  
  
I woke up lying on the ground not far away with Dende's hands upon me.   
  
"There," he said, "You're healed!"  
  
I blinked. I hadn't had any idea that he could heal people.  
  
Gathering myself, I stood up and saw Frieza hitting and kicking poor Gohan. Vegeta seemed helpless. I leapt up to a cliff where I could get a better view of things. Frieza began to crush Gohan's head into the ground.  
  
This is it, I thought. Frieza was distracted, and the last thing he'd be expecting was an attack from me. If I could hit him with a Kienzan, it would all be over.  
  
I performed Kienzan. It was the best and fastest I'd ever made, considering my newfound power. Unfortunately, Frieza sensed it and dodged at the last moment. It cut off his tail.  
  
I threw another five Kienzan at him in rapid succession, but it was no use now that he knew to dodge. I tried to fly away, but he caught up with me immediately. Well, at least I'd gotten his attention away from Gohan. Pissed off is an understatement of how Frieza felt about having his tail cut off. He screamed some obscenities at me. It was pretty scary, but I smiled. I still had one way out - Taiyoken.  
I executed the Taiyoken perfectly that time, and Frieza screamed and pressed his fists into his eyes. Excited by the small success, I called out to Vegeta as if he were a trusted ally, "Now, Vegeta! Attack him now!"  
  
Vegeta ignored me. His attention seemed to be focused on something else. Frieza was still reeling from the Taiyoken, so I flew over to Vegeta, annoyed with him for not taking the opportunity to attack. He now seemed angry.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me that the Namekian brat could heal wounds?" he spat. While I tried to explain that I couldn't possibly have known, Gohan appeared beside us, fully healed. Things were starting to look up again.   
  
I think that it was about then that Piccolo got there. Of course, Gohan was ecstatic to see him. I knew from the moment he arrived that Piccolo had changed greatly. His power was whole levels over what it had been before. (I'm really not sure how he got that much stronger. I mean, he trained with Kaiô-sama in the afterlife, but so did Yamucha, and he wasn't that much stronger. Oh well, it isn't important.)   
  
Piccolo was very confident. He was determined to avenge all of the Namekians that had been killed by Frieza. He and Frieza took to the ground to fight. I didn't expect Piccolo to be able to do much against Frieza, but I was surprised. The skirmish that followed wasn't completely one-sided, but Piccolo did very well. He beat Frieza around and even deflected one of his ki blasts. His power was more than any of ours. Gohan and I started to get excited - maybe we could get out of this. Frieza looked frustrated, even angry at Piccolo's power. He floated in front of Piccolo with a scowl.  
  
Then, without warning, he smiled and beat Piccolo to a pulp with great ease. He had just been faking it. Oh lord, Frieza was like a terrible god. Every time we seemed to have a hope, he just got stronger again. There didn't seem to be any limit to his power.  
  
Piccolo got back up with difficulty.   
  
"Sorry," said Frieza, "You were so much better than I expected, I couldn't resist."  
  
Piccolo responded by calmly removing his cape and headgear. Whenever he does that, it's a sign he's getting serious. Piccolo's strength and speed even seem to increase a little. I felt a tiny flicker of a chance for salvation. Frieza just laughed.  
  
"I see that I've given you the wrong idea, if you thought that would bother me," said Frieza, his voice becoming ever more taunting. "You see, I still have two transformations remaining."  
  
Oh, I did NOT hear that, I told myself. I looked to Gohan and Vegeta for confirmation. They seemed paralyzed by fear.  
  
Frieza began to laugh maniacally, and the laughter became a scream as he began his transformation. Enormous spikes came out of his back and shoulders. His head elongated into an almost cylindrical shape. To be honest, it all looked very painful. When he was done, he didn't even look humanoid anymore.  
  
He looked like a demon.  
  
Piccolo tried to flee, but Frieza caught up with him almost immediately. He began to chop at him with two fingers. He was so fast that it didn't even look like he was touching Piccolo. You would have sworn that he hadn't been if it weren't for the holes and spurts of blood that appeared all over Piccolo's body. He looked as if he was being shot up against a wall by a machine gun. The fear began to burn a hole into me. I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself, but I just can't overemphasize how terrifying it was. Frieza was so many levels above anything we'd ever imagined, and he just kept getting stronger. It was too much.  
  
Gohan lost it and flew at Frieza to attack. I started to follow, but Vegeta grabbed me by the wrist. "You wouldn't help," he said. He brought me face to face with him.  
  
"Quickly, hit me so that I'm almost dead," he said.  
  
"What!?"  
  
He said that as a Saiyan, he'd become stronger after coming back from near death. Since Dende could heal people instantly, we had an easy way of doing that. "It won't work if I try to kill myself," he said, "you have to do it."   
  
As much as I hated Vegeta, I couldn't do it. For the past several hours, we'd been fighting side by side. You feel a kind of bond with someone from that that's hard to explain. I couldn't make myself hurt him. Vegeta begged me. He threatened me. He called me a fool, an idiot, a coward. He said that it was our only chance. None of it made any difference. I couldn't do it.  
  
We heard a scream and saw Gohan fire the largest ki blast ever conceived at Frieza. He bounced it back.  
  
Presently, Vegeta began to scream at me. I tried to shut my ears to him. I wasn't having any part of his scheme.  
  
"Now, at last," we heard Frieza exclaim, "Behold a fear worse than hell itself! My final form!"  
  
My heart seemed to seize up when I heard that. I felt his skyrocketing ki and my mind was filled with horrible visions of his final form. The fear I'd felt before seemed like nothing compared to this.  
  
"Now, coward!" shrieked Vegeta. That did it. I sent a ki blast straight through his torso. I think I actually heard him say "that's more like it" as he fell to the ground, bleeding profusely. What a psycho.  
  
Frieza's final transformation took longer than the others. I met Gohan and Piccolo on the ground and explained why I'd attacked Vegeta. Gohan and I ran to the place where he had fallen, only to find him lying there, dying. Dende flew past us and headed for Piccolo. Piccolo stood up, healed, as we got there. We all started to panic a little; Vegeta would be dead from the wound I gave him soon if he wasn't healed.  
  
"Dende," I said, "I can understand why you wouldn't want to, but... you have to heal Vegeta."  
  
"No!" he screamed. "He killed too many Namekians!"  
  
We begged him to do it, but he wouldn't budge. The poor kid. It must have been a hell of an internal struggle for him. Even Piccolo asked him.  
  
In the next moment, everything was lit up by a gigantic flare that shot up from where Frieza was standing. It was like an enormous flame that extended almost through our entire field of vision, far away from him though we were. A tremendous roar filled the air, blocking out all other sound. It leveled the little island he was standing on, and sent out a shockwave that sent up dust all around us. Frieza had completed his transformation. Dende went back and healed Vegeta without further argument.  
  
After the dust settled, we could see Frieza. His final form was unimpressive, at least in appearance. It wasn't very big, and it didn't have any spikes or horns anywhere. He just looked like a man wearing strange armor. Frieza's fourth form was the least scary-looking. What terrible irony.  
  
Frieza pointed his finger, and there was an explosion behind us. We all turned to see poor Dende's lifeless body lying in a small crater. We hadn't even seen the attack.  
  
"Now you can't come back," said Frieza.  
  
Instantly, he was upon us. He appeared in the middle of Piccolo, Gohan, and I and just stood there.  
  
Gohan yelled mightily and attacked. Piccolo joined the attack, and then I did as well. Three of us at once, some of the strongest warriors in the universe at that time, attacked as quickly and with as much force as we could. We used every strategy we could think of, and each of us called upon whatever training we'd had. The assault would be a humbling sight to almost anyone. Frieza merely stood there and dodged it all with ease. It was like attacking the wind. Every time I thought I knew where he was, I'd throw a punch or kick there, and he was gone by the time it reached. I even started predicting where he'd be and attacking there instead of where I saw him, a technique I'd learned when everyone started using after-images in the Tenkai'chi Budokai, and he was still way ahead of me. The really sobering part is that even if every single one of our blows had landed, it wouldn't have harmed him.  
  
We separated and each fired ki blasts at him. They came even less close to hitting him than our physical attacks had. When we looked, Frieza seemed to have disappeared.  
  
"Behind you!" shouted Vegeta. We all turned to look, and saw that he was behind us. The next thing I was aware of was Vegeta kicking Gohan. After that, I became aware of the two ki blasts that he'd kicked him out of the path of. It was obvious that Vegeta could see things we couldn't. He really had gotten stronger.  
  
Vegeta was filled with confidence. He called himself "The Super Saiyan". Frieza seemed mildly amused.  
  
The Super Saiyan was an ancient Saiyan legend. It told of an all-powerful warrior that supposedly came around once every thousand years. The legend said that the Super Saiyan would love bloodshed and violence, and would be impossible to defeat. It turned out to be accurate and, at the same time, way, way off. You'll read later about multiple Super Saiyans having the living tar beaten out of them, by, among others, my wife. So much for legend.  
  
Vegeta was not a Super Saiyan. He couldn't even keep up with Frieza. Frustrated, he attacked Frieza with a truly awe-inspiring ki blast. Frieza deflected it with a bit of effort. I caught sight of Vegeta when that happened. I saw him give up. A certain fire went out of his eyes, and his shoulders sagged. He'd lost his will to fight.   
  
Let me tell you, you know that things are going bad when Vegeta gives up. The man was like pride incarnate. Yet, he didn't even seem to try to resist as Frieza beat him mercilessly. He landed right next to us. Frieza landed beside him and picked him up by the neck with his tail. He began to beat Vegeta, slowly and cruelly. At one point, he stopped and turned to us.  
  
"You know, you can help him any time," said Frieza. We didn't move. It wouldn't have made any difference if we had.  
  
Frieza soon got bored with a victim that made no pretense of fighting back, and prepared to finish Vegeta off. That's when Goku arrived. Oddly, even his clothes weren't damaged. I wonder how those healing chambers work. Goku barely acknowledged us. He said that he was sorry he was late. He was focused entirely on Frieza.  
  
Frieza and Goku talked for a little while, and he seemed to learn that Goku was a Saiyan. He attacked Goku, and Goku dodged and kicked him in the face. It didn't hurt Frieza much, but the mere fact that he was able to hit him was amazing. It was all Goku from here on. The rest of us were just spectators.  
  
Frieza used the same too-fast-too-see attack on Goku that had killed Dende. He shot a bunch of them at once. Goku deflected them all with one hand. Even Frieza was impressed with that. We heard a feeble laughter coming from Vegeta.  
  
"Frieza!" he said, sitting up a little, "It was Kakarotto! He's the Super Saiyan!"  
  
He smiled despite his obvious pain. "You're through, Frieza... I'm only glad I lived to see it..."  
  
Without warning, Frieza shot Vegeta through the heart. Still, as resilient as ever, Vegeta managed to choke out a final speech to Goku. He told him to stop being so nice, to be ruthless.   
  
"Never," said Goku, "I'm not like you." Still our Goku.  
  
Vegeta told Goku that Frieza had been the one who destroyed the Saiyan homeworld. In the end, his speech became an almost tender supplication, a final request of Goku.   
  
"Please," he said, a tear squeezing out of his eye in his final moment, "Frieza must die..."  
  
Then, Vegeta died. "Finally," snorted Frieza.  
  
I wasn't sure how to feel. Something about Vegeta's death had seemed so sad, and so senseless, that I felt tremendously guilty for having felt mere seconds before kind of glad that he wouldn't make it.  
  
Goku buried Vegeta, and then faced off with Frieza. "I'm going to kill you, Frieza," he said. It was a threat I'd already heard three times that day. Frieza seemed as unimpressed as ever.  
  
Piccolo, Gohan, and I got far away. There was nothing that we could do. We could only watch and pray as the two giants began to fight.   
  
Despite was Vegeta had said, Goku was not a Super Saiyan, at least not yet. He could keep up with Frieza, something that none of the rest of us could do, but he didn't seem to be able to actually hurt him. The battle was ludicrously fast and accompanied by various large explosions. Using a brilliant strategy, Goku finally managed to get in a really good hit on Frieza. It sent him through two mountains. It was a pretty frightening sight.  
  
Frieza was not harmed. He still didn't even seem to be trying. He threw a bunch of rocks at Goku, a really ridiculous attack. It turned out, however, to only be a distraction from his true attack. Frieza captured Goku in some kind of ball of light and threw it to the ground, causing an explosion. For a moment, I was really afraid, but Goku had gotten out of it at the last moment. He wasn't really trying yet either.  
  
They met on the ground and engaged. The fight seemed pretty even. As I watched, I noticed something odd about Frieza's fighting style. Then I saw what it was - he wasn't using his hands. Hoo boy.  
  
They broke apart and talked a little, and then for a long time they just stood and stared at each other. Suddenly, Frieza attacked and they started again. Now Goku was really trying. Frieza still wasn't. He seemed to be standing perfectly still except in the moments he hit Goku. It was a horror to watch - Frieza was just too strong. Even Goku was helpless. Even Goku. Heaven save us.  
  
Frieza stopped attacking for a moment and pointed at the ground. With his finger, he shot a ki blast that sliced a quarter of the way through the planet. It reached just up to where we were staying. It occurred to me that Frieza could destroy the planet if he wanted to.  
  
Strangely, I didn't feel afraid anymore. Concerned, frustrated, even hopeful, but not afraid. I don't know whether some mental defense mechanism had switched the fear off, whether I'd found my final reserves of courage, or whether I was heartened by Goku's presence. Whatever it was, I was far from all right. A hollowness had replaced the fear inside of me. I felt almost nothing as I watched the battle. I felt detached somehow.  
  
Goku screamed, and a bright ki flare erupted around him. I knew what it was - he was bringing out the last of his strength with the Kaioken. He hit Frieza and unleashed a Kamehameha that would've made the Muten Roshi damn proud to have invented the thing. Frieza half-blocked, half-absorbed the blast. It didn't injure him much.  
  
We came to a horrible realization: that blast had been Goku's best. It was over. All of our efforts, all of our power increases, Piccolo, Vegeta, even Goku, even Goku; all had been for nothing. Frieza really was invincible. We were doomed.  
  
Frieza really started beating Goku after that. It got to the point where Goku was struggling to get up, and Frieza would kick him. It was a torturous sight.  
  
"What happened to your eagerness, Saiyan?" taunted Frieza. "Are you on strike?"  
  
Goku raised his hands, palms turned upwards. It took me a moment, but I recognized what he was doing - he was preparing the Genki Dama. We saw it form in the sky. It was much, much larger than the one on Earth. It must have contained not only Namek's energy, but that of neighboring planets. It was our last hope, but it took too long to prepare. Frieza was just confused.  
  
"What's this?" said Frieza. "Does this mean you give up?"  
  
Finally, Frieza lost his patience and hit Goku. Goku resumed charging the Genki Dama as soon as he could stand back up, but Frieza hit him again. He wasn't going to let him do it.  
  
"Gohan, Kuririn," said Piccolo, "Give me your energy. Hurry!"  
  
I'd never done that before. It had never occurred to me that it was possible to transfer some of your ki to another. Gohan and I took Piccolo's hands, and he drained most of the ki out of us.   
  
Frieza finally saw the Genki Dama and realized what was happening. Now there was no way he was letting Goku do it. He taunted Goku. Goku tried one last punch that Frieza blocked easily. In another moment Goku would die. At that very moment, Piccolo kicked Frieza. Piccolo used all of his power plus the power he had gotten from Gohan and I for that one attack. It sent him flying.  
  
Goku started to prepare the Genki Dama again. Frieza came at him again to stop him.  
  
"Gohan," I said. I didn't even have to say it. Both of us used what energy we had left to fire ki blasts at Frieza. They distracted him just long enough for Goku to finish the preparation.   
  
Goku threw the huge Genki Dama at Frieza. Frieza put up his hands to block it, and there was a consciousness-obliterating flash.  
  
A few minutes passed.  
  
The next thing I remember is swimming to solid ground. There was a crater in Namek where the Genki Dama had hit. The ocean was flowing into it. Gohan was standing next to me. We were worried for a moment, but then we saw Goku and Piccolo crawl onto shore nearby. We flew to them as fast as we could, which was not very fast, as drained as we were.   
  
We were so happy. I hugged Goku. "Ow," he said. We all laughed. My heart filled up with a great warm feeling. Everything was going to be all right. We could go home.  
  
Suddenly, I realized something. I let out a little scream.  
  
"Bulma!" I said. "I almost forgot about Bulma!"  
  
Goku laughed. "You scared the crap out of me," he said. "I thought you saw Frieza."  
  
Everyone just chatted it up, but I stopped. I saw something in the distance, a bloodied form standing on a cliff.   
  
It wasn't possible. It wasn't fair. Yet, there it was. Frieza was still alive.  
  
He wasn't messing around anymore; he had almost died. He planned to kill us all now. He shot Piccolo through the chest. Then, he raised a hand.  
  
I felt an invisible force take hold of my body. I began to rise into the air. If I'd still had all my energy, I might have been able to break the hold, but as it was, I could do nothing. I screamed and screamed. The fear was back.   
  
I remember being angry. Frieza had no right. We had won, we had our happy ending. He couldn't take it away like this.   
  
Then, I felt something tear at my insides. I felt like I was coming apart. I was shaking violently.  
  
I wished that I was back at home. I wanted more of my worthless, stupid life. I didn't want to die. As the end approached, it occurred to me to scream something. I settled on "Goku." Goku returned my scream with "Kuririn!" He really cared about me.  
  
Then, I died.  
  
Seems like a good place to end a chapter.  
  
--END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE-- 


	22. Moving On

~Chapter 22: Moving On~

Frieza used some attack on me that caused me to explode from the inside. Luckily, I have no memory of that. However, I do have one coherent memory from the time that I was dead. I'm not sure if it really happened, but it seems real enough in my mind.

I remember suddenly becoming self-aware. I could even remember who I was. All around me, I saw white clouds. A sort of hazy light trickled through them. In the distance, there was a deep black void, strewn with the rubble of a dead planet. However, this image seemed to get smaller all of the time, as if I was drifting away from it. I don't know how I was able to see all of this. I had no eyes, no body at all, not even a spiritual form. Physically, I felt one with my surroundings. I existed only as a vague collection of thought and willpower.

For a while, I just allowed myself to float, taking in this new realization of self. Then, I had an uneasy feeling. There was something that I had to do. I wasn't sure what it was, but it had to do with self-preservation. I started to work on figuring out what this was, but then I stopped.

"Why?" I thought. Why should I prolong my existence any further? I was dead twice over, why not just let it end there? Looking back over my life, I couldn't think of any reason that the universe particularly needed me.

Imagining that I was closing my eyes, I let go of something. The awareness faded.

My next memory is of a moment of intense pain and confusion, a sudden short, sharp shock brought on by coming back into existence from nothing. I found myself staring into a crowd of people outside the Capsule Corporation headquarters. They cheered and applauded. I was very confused.

I didn't remember dying or being dead. The memory I told you about didn't come to me until later. It seemed like only seconds before I'd been fighting Frieza; it was as if I'd been on Namek one moment, and in the next, I was there. It was very disorienting. However, when I turned around and saw Porunga floating in the sky, I figured it out quickly, and I wilted. I couldn't believe that I'd been dead again.

Bulma loudly declared a wish to bring Goku to Earth, to more cheering. Porunga refused. He said that Goku wanted to come to Earth on his own. Everyone was bewildered.

I scanned the crowd. Gohan was there, as well as Piccolo. Among the crowd were some Namekians that I knew I'd seen killed, but there was no sign of Vegeta.

"Well, okay then..." said Bulma, "In that case, resurrect Yamucha!" I blinked. I was surprised that I was a higher priority for resurrection than Yamucha. I guess that they revived me when they did because they'd planned to bring back Goku and I together, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Porunga disappeared, Yamucha failed to appear (those of us who could sense ki, however, knew he was on Earth), and the crowd started to dissolve. What was left of it gathered around me.

"Kuririn!" said Gohan. "I'm so happy that you're alive!"

I was surrounded by the smiling faces of friends. Frieza had obviously been defeated. Everything was going to be okay now, and I had friends who cared about me enough to use the infinite power of the dragon balls to let me live. I should have been happy. I was not. I felt hollow inside. I had been through so much on Namek - too much. Just to think of it all sent chills and waves of nausea through me. Worse, I had died. I guess by then most of us were used to the concept of resurrection with the dragon balls, but I don't know if I'll ever get used to it. I've always been grateful for the ability to bring back those that died unfairly, but at the same time, it all feels... so wrong, somehow. One has to wonder how many times it's possible to cheat death.

At least I wasn't in a corpse this time. Frieza had destroyed my body so utterly that Porunga had to make me a new one. He did a pretty good job of it, too; it was the same as before. If anything, it was even stronger than my old one. Still, it was pretty disturbing to know that my body wasn't the one I'd been born with. Come to think of it, the one that's sitting here typing this is probably my fourth. Frankly, it's insane. Wherein lies our identity, if not in our bodies? I try not to think about it.

I was in a daze. I thanked Gohan feebly, but didn't manage to respond to anything else. Finally, Roshi-sama split them up. "The lad's exhausted, give him room," he said. I was grateful for that.

Some of the people left after that, but I was surprised by how many stayed. Chichi insisted that Gohan go home, but most stuck around to wait for Yamucha. I was surprised to learn that the Namekians were living at capsule corp, as well as Vegeta, who no longer seemed inclined to destroy the world.

Bulma was really hospitable to me. She gave me a place to sit and a soda, and she brought me up to date on what had happened since my death. Firstly, my being killed had caused Goku to become so angry that he became the Super Saiyan and defeated Frieza. I'm really not sure how I feel about that. I mean, I'm really touched that Goku cares that much about me, and I guess I'm glad that it enabled him to defeat Frieza, but how in the hell am I supposed to feel about it? I died. I DIED. I'm sorry, but if my death had brought about eternal peace throughout the universe, I still wouldn't be completely happy about it. Maybe I'm selfish, I don't know.

Another thing that really pisses me off is that everyone who recognizes what we did on Namek at all (not many) considers that my biggest contribution to the whole thing. Four days, practically without sleep, Gohan and I did all we could not only to stay alive, but also to keep the dragon balls out of the hands of Frieza. After all that we did, you can understand my being annoyed at the perception that all I achieved on Namek was getting killed so that Goku could have his all-important powerup. Don't get me wrong; I'm not envious of anyone. Goku deserves all the credit he gets and more, and he was never guilty of being a glory hound. I even remember him saying once, "But you know, if it wasn't for Gohan and Kuririn we never would have been able to defeat Frieza." Well, forget this rant anyway. It isn't really important. What's important is that Frieza was defeated. You'll notice that I've yet to use the word "killed", by the way. That's for a reason. Keep that in mind.

As for the formerly dead Namekians, they'd been brought to life along with Dende and Vegeta and then brought to Earth by a cleverly worded series of wishes that brought back everyone who'd been killed by Frieza with the exception of me and brought everyone on Namek but Frieza and Goku to Earth. The reason that I wasn't revived then was that the wish had been made with the Earth dragon balls, which can only resurrect any person once and had already resurrected me.

As for Namek itself, it had been destroyed by Frieza. Everyone had been sure that Goku'd died in the explosion, but he didn't. Somehow he'd survived, although no one really seemed to know how he'd escaped.

Bulma told me that I'd been dead for 130 days. I'd missed my 28th birthday. I nodded, shaking. I felt terrible. I did manage to cheer up a bit when Yamucha got there. It was great to see him again. He was one of my best friends, after all.

"Hey, I'm finally back!" he said. We all ran to him, but Pu'ar got there first. Everyone was really excited. It occurred to me that Bulma might have been a little more emotional about it, given how upset she'd been when he died, but it wasn't really any of my business.

I was fine until I left Capsule Corp. The only moment when I was troubled was when Yamucha had asked me where I'd been in the other world, but he said "never mind" when he noticed my discomfort. I stayed a bit late and left alone.

The moment I stepped outside was the moment I became depressed. It was a beautiful afternoon with the sun glaring from a blue sky and a cool breeze. I only made it a few steps before I was overwhelmed and had to sit down in the grass. I just couldn't believe that I was back on Earth. I should have been able to enjoy it, but I was overwhelmed with a feeling of despair.

I saw Frieza everywhere. With every scene of bustling activity or tranquil beauty that I saw, I couldn't help but think that if Frieza were there, he could destroy it all, and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. It was very humbling.

What really got me depressed was that I felt like I was useless. I had been so ineffective against Frieza and even the Ginyu force. I started along a really destructive line of thinking. It began with the thought that I couldn't do anything, and then I went on to conclude that no one needed me. I don't even have a family, I thought despairingly. I'd always had shaky self-esteem, and it was at an all-time low. For one dangerous moment, I wished that I hadn't been resurrected. I had to go home.

However, going home only seemed to make things worse. Roshi-sama and Oolong, who had apparently moved into the Kame House, greeted me when I got there, but I barely noticed them. I went into my room and collapsed. After that, I went through my days in a cloud. I was always depressed, often not even knowing why. I let my hygiene go, which was a big red flag because I'm normally a meticulously neat person. I started sleeping until the afternoon and barely moving when I was awake. M Roshi tried to talk some sense into me, but I was totally unreceptive. To tell the truth, I was blind. I had been given life and friends, and I was wasting it all.

I stayed like that for about two weeks. It took a visit from Yamucha to get me to snap out of it. He was a good friend to come.

Roshi-sama let Yamucha in when he got there. I remember hearing footsteps and a knock on my door. I didn't answer. He opened the door. Yamucha was actually looking very neat - he'd gotten his very long hair cut to a more reasonable length.

"Kami, Kuririn," he said, "You look terrible."

"Thanks," I mumbled. I'm afraid that I acted a bit hostile toward him at first. I resented the intrusion.

Yamucha invited me to go for a walk with him. Thanks, but no thanks, I said. He insisted and grabbed my arm. I snatched it back and glared at him.

He frowned. "Well, I can't make you come, Kuririn. After all," - he smiled - "you're stronger than me."

I stared at him. "I just want to talk," he said. I wasn't thinking properly, then. I'd retreated into a kind of emotional shell. I just felt kind of annoyed at Yamucha. Who did he think he was, coming here and thinking that he can pull me out of this pit - and when you're depressed, the pit always seems far deeper than it truly is - just by taking me for a walk? Now, I know better. Bless him for doing it. Let me tell you, the best thing to do with a depressed person is to get them outside and get them to open up, no matter how they protest. It'll be better for them in the long run.

So, Yamucha brought me outside, scowling and unconvinced. When we started to fly, though, I already felt a tiny bit better. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but flying is such a wonderful feeling. You can just let the wind drift over you and let the world be.

He took me to a coffee house and bought us both some coffee. I sipped it slowly. It was bitter. I've never liked coffee.

He chatted idly for a bit about the hustle of arrangements he'd had to make to make himself legally alive again and to eliminate the notion that he was dead. I gave minimal response. Finally, he said, "Tell me what's wrong, Kuririn. I'm your friend. Tell me."

I had to search myself for a moment. What WAS wrong? It didn't seem to have any definition - it was just a kind of deep darkness in my being. I told him that I had been through a lot on Namek. He sympathized. "No," I said forcefully, "You have no idea. It was terrible. I was even killed."

"You're not the only person in this room who's been killed in battle," he said flatly. I was shocked. I'd been so absorbed in myself that I'd completely forgotten.

"I-I'm sorry," I stammered.

"Don't worry about it. It's in the past, right? Kuririn, life's tough, but we have to move on. Otherwise, what were we fighting for? We've got to be brave. I know that you are brave."

Despite myself, I smiled a bit. He put it so simply, but it sounded so right. "Yeah," I said. However, I was still depressed.

"But what's really wrong, Kuririn? What's at the core of it?"

I fell silent for a moment. This time, what I was going to say seemed much clearer. This was my real problem.

"I just feel so useless," I said. "I'm never strong enough, never good enough, never brave enough. There's nothing that I can do that Goku or someone else can't do better. No one... No one needs me." I'd hit it so squarely that I even startled myself. I'm not sure that this is exactly what I said, but this is the voice of the first thirty years of my life. This is my personal demon. It wasn't completely defeated that day when Yamucha helped me out of my bout with depression. It still isn't entirely gone, although it rarely troubles me now. Only I can defeat it.

Yamucha told me that I had a lot of friends and that they all cared about me and worried over me. As he spoke, I knew that he was right, and I felt so loved and appreciated that I couldn't believe I'd ever thought otherwise, but I still felt miserable. I cried then. I told him that I was sorry. I said that he was right, I thanked him for everything, and I said that I just couldn't help being depressed.

"Hey, don't cry. It's embarrassing."

I restrained myself. It hurt a bit.

"Kuririn, you have to pull through this yourself, but I want you to know that we're all here for you."

"Th-thank you."

He leaned in a bit. "Hey, and let me tell you something," he said, "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

I shook my head and laughed a little. "That's nice to say, but nah. Really it was more Goku... and Bulma... and even Vegeta, really."

Yamucha folded his arms. He looked triumphant. "Uh-uh," he said, "No way, Kuririn. You're not weaseling out of giving yourself credit for this one. Do you know what Bulma told me? When everything seemed hopeless and everyone had given up, do you know who had the idea? Who gave everyone the strength to go on? Who came up with the plan that would save everything? Not Goku. Not Bulma. It sure as hell wasn't Vegeta. It was you. You, Kuririn. Don't forget that."

My god, he was right. I had done something. I had made a difference.

That was all it took - the next day, I was myself again. There was a little get-together on my behalf. It's good to have friends.

I felt better than ever after that. I started doing more. I started doing things with Gohan. Whenever he had a break in his relentless studies, I'd come over and take him away to do something for a little while. We went fishing, hiking, and swimming, and we even sparred a bit, although I could scarcely keep up with him. I really enjoyed my time with Gohan. He was a nice kid, and he was really lonely with Goku off in space the way he was. So, he and I became good friends. I like to think that we still are good friends, although I don't see him so often anymore.

I also started feeling more ambitious. I wanted to do something. I couldn't think of anything at first, but then I remembered an abandoned pursuit from back in those five years that I skimmed over in chapter eleven.

I'd always had an idea bouncing around my head for a story. I'd always thought that someone really ought to write that story. However, when I was 23, I thought for the first time, "Maybe I could write it." It didn't seem so impossible.

The first thing I did was to learn to type. That took me about eight weeks. Then, I started to write. I was rather pleased with myself. It was invigorating and fun. It wasn't until I read over the first several pages that I got the shock.

It was terrible.

I had to face facts - I knew nothing about writing. I'd never really thought about it before, but I realized then that I was uneducated. I'd left the Orinji Temple when I was 13, and learned hardly anything since then academically. Hence, my writing had worse problems than massive structure errors and a lack of vocabulary.

What do you think I did? Start studying and bettering myself? No, I gave up. That's the way I was back then. I gave up and put it all away.

Now, however, after Frieza, I felt ready to try again. I spoke to Bulma, who was the right person to talk to. She said that she'd get me any connections I needed, and if anyone has connections, it's that woman. I started studying and being tutored in the Common language and in writing skills. The idea that I had scrapped when I was 23 would eventually metamorphose into my first novel, Turn.

Nothing else of much importance really happened in my life for a while. Vegeta left Earth to go searching for Goku. On September 28, I attended the resurrection of Tenshinhan and Chaozu. They expressed their gratitude and then basically disappeared. They live in kind of a separate world than us. The Namekians used the dragon balls' last wish to create a new planet Namek and to send them and the Namekian dragon balls there. They invited Piccolo to come with them, but he chose to stay on Earth.

Then, in October, Maron returned to the Kame House. Things became chaotic again almost immediately.

--END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO--


	23. The Black Water Mist

~Chapter 23: The Black Water Mist~

That October was an eventful month. My friends and I decided that we didn't see each other enough, so we were going to have a big get-together at the Kame House. Bulma, Yamucha and Pu'ar were coming, and of course, Umigame, Roshi-sama, Oolong and I were going to be there since we lived in the Kame House anyway. We wanted to invite Gohan as well, but we hadn't seen him much. Actually, since I had been resurrected none of us but me had been seeing much of Gohan, and lately even I hadn't seen him. I don't think that Chichi liked us much then. She thought that we were a bad influence on Gohan. Chichi needed to get a grip.

Also, I bought a car. It was a nice car. I've never really needed a car since I've been able to fly, but I enjoy driving, and it's a lot easier to pick people up and transport them in a car. I can carry people when I fly, but it's a bit awkward. You know what I'm talking about if you've ever been held in the air by someone else for an extended period of time. It's really uncomfortable.

Of course, Maron also came back into my life that month, which was a really big event for me. Oh, and did I mention that Garlic Junior imprisoned Kami-sama, turned everyone on Earth into a zombie, and almost took over the world? Darn, I'll have to get to that.

Maron just showed up at the Kame House without any sort of advance warning at all. I couldn't believe my eyes. I'd really thought that I'd never see her again. She said that she'd missed me. In a way, I'd missed her too. On occasion, I had wistfully recalled the few days we'd spent together. It had only been about three years since then.

I was happy to see Maron. Everything in my life finally seemed to be coming together. I had always thought that I might have made a mistake in letting her go, and here she was. I didn't want to rush into anything, but I was really as excited as a little kid. I'd always wanted to have a girlfriend. It had come to be a running joke among my friends that I never would have one; well, I would sure show them. I couldn't wait to show her off at the Kame House get-together. Look what I've got, I'd say. Look at what I've achieved.

Maron and I went shopping. Actually, I enjoy shopping, as weird as that might seem. I do like to get clothes for myself sometimes, but more than that, I like to accompany other people. More to the point, I like helping women pick out clothes. It's kind of fun. It's a lucky thing, too, because if I didn't I'd have gone insane by now somewhere along those mall trips with 18 and Marron. Maron modeled some clothes for me, and although I'm afraid you'll think me rather male to say it, she looked really hot. I got some new clothes too. I got a nice white suit with a fedora that I looked just priceless in. I still have that suit; I get it out whenever we need a good laugh around the Kame House.

At that point, however, I was already unsure about Maron. She did remind me of everything I'd liked about her - she was so cute that it made me melt, and I don't mean just in appearance. At the same time, however, she started to prove to have personality traits that really disagreed with me. She was always very blunt when she spoke, almost embarrassingly so. She would flirt in little ways with a lot of guys. She would threaten to leave to get me to do things her way (it always worked). The one thing that bothered me the most was that I made a little speech to her about Goku and that she forgot it afterwards. Every time I would mention Goku, she'd say, "Who's that?" Argh. Plus, she insisted upon calling me "Kurin-chan", which was embarrassing (It's too close to something else. If you don't know, I'm not telling you. Young eyes might be reading this).

Yet, I was still convinced that I loved her. I wanted it to work; I wanted it to be true so badly that I made myself believe it. I bargained with myself. Her faults weren't THAT bad, and besides, she did do these cute things that gave me a warm feeling. Also, she was really pretty nice to me. That was enough for me - I finally had a girlfriend, and I wasn't about to let a little thing like reality interfere.

I was so insistent on this that I guarded it jealously. It made me act pretty immature. When I found Gohan fishing by the river and invited him to the party, I even got a little jealous when she kissed him on the cheek. Can you believe that? I was jealous of a little kid. Sorry, Gohan.

On the day of the party, though, my spirits were up. I was happy because I was going to get to show everyone that I had a girlfriend. I didn't really understand love then. I didn't admit it to myself, but I really thought that it was about social status and self-respect. I thought that getting a girlfriend was something that I had to do, and that I was a loser if I didn't have one. I was young and foolish. As for now, well, I don't know if I can truthfully say that I understand love, but... I know it. I've felt it for real. It's so different from that. It really is.

The party was fun. It was really great to see everyone together. We really were the worst circle of friends; we never saw enough of each other. Everyone showed up except Gohan. My friends were happy to accept Maron and were very supportive of me. However, they quickly sensed the true nature of our relationship after an incident where Maron flirted a little with Yamucha. Bulma chewed him out.

"Oh, come on, Bulma," said Yamucha, "She was just kidding. Right?"

"Actually, no," said Maron.

Everyone stared at her. I panicked. Bulma seemed a little wary, and she asked Maron how she really felt about me. After a pause, Maron said that she didn't know. What a painful moment that was. I should've known right then that it wasn't going to work out.

Roshi-sama made matters worse by being a total perv. I'm going to spare you from the details of that. Be grateful.

The party got over that rough spot, though, and soon afterward, I went out to catch some fish. Maron came out wearing a bathing suit that you could practically fit on a postage stamp and joined me. Things seemed to be going okay until Chichi got there.

She nearly landed on poor Roshi-sama with her airplane. She was extremely pissed off and demanding to know where Gohan was. I don't know why exactly, but Chichi used to be a real terror when she was angry. We used to joke that she was the only thing in the universe that could scare the Super Saiyan Son Goku. Actually, I feel kind of guilty saying that now. Poor Chichi. She's led a troubled life. After all, she was only trying to make a good life for her child.

Anyway, Maron provoked Chichi's wrath further by wearing that bathing suit and by calling her old and uptight. It got to the point where everyone was holding her back to try and prevent her from going berserk and killing Maron. Then, I think that somehow Maron held me underwater for several seconds. She must have, because neither of us breathed the mist.

I suppose it's time I explained everything. Garlic Junior was the progeny of a demon that had, thousands of years ago, challenged the throne of Kami. Just a few years earlier, he had tried to do the same himself. He managed to get the dragon balls to grant him immortality. He was pretty strong, and Goku and Piccolo had a lot of trouble defeating him. Finally, he opened a vortex to an alternate plane known as the Dead Zone. There, supposedly, there is nothing but endless abyss. He tried to suck everyone into it, but ended up getting trapped in it himself by - get this - Gohan, who was so young that he doesn't even remember it.

There is supposed to be no escape from the Dead Zone. However, at that time a rare event occurred that made it possible for him to get out. There is, or rather was, a body called the Makeo star. When it came close to Earth, an event that only happened once every 5000 years, a clan upon Earth known as the demon clan would have its strength multiplied dozens of times, and would wreak mischief upon the world. Garlic Junior was of this clan, and he used the power boost to get him out of the Dead Zone. He promptly went to Kami's lookout, beat up Kami-sama and Mr. Popo and put them in jars, and let loose something called the Black Water Mist. This, in case you haven't guessed, was very bad news. That's all you need to know for now.

Gohan got there after we resurfaced. I told him that his mother had come ahead of him. He winced, and we prepared to go back to the island and face her fury. We didn't know what we were in for.

I should have noticed when we saw Chichi that something was wrong. There was something strange about her eyes. Gohan apologized solemnly. She said nothing, and only attacked him. He hopped all over the island, but she pursued him. Shortly afterward, everyone else came out of the Kame House looking the same way. Their eyes had a purple glow to them, and they seemed to have fangs. About then, I started to realize that something was up.

The effect of the Black Water Mist was basically to turn everyone who breathed it into a nearly mindless zombie, bent on destruction and loyal to the Demon Clan. I didn't know that. All I knew was that my friends were suddenly attacking me, and it was scary. I didn't feel like I was in any real danger because I was so far removed from them in strength - really, Yamucha was the only one who was strong enough to give me trouble - but, well, how would you feel if all of your best friends suddenly turned on you? I didn't want to hurt them. I didn't even want to fight them.

Maron, on the other hand, was in real danger, so I spent most of my time protecting her. The Roshi zombie seemed particularly intent on pursuing her. That was when she really showed her true colors. She told me to hit him. "I thought you were an expert," she said. "Why don't you just clock him one?" How dared she ask that of me? She knew that Roshi-sama was one of the people who I respected most in the entire world. How could she ask me to attack him? It might have been just the panic of the moment, but I just don't know.

Soon, four strange looking creatures arrived. The moment that they got there, all of the zombies stopped attacking and bowed to them. They were surprisingly strong, and easily handled Gohan. They called themselves the Four Monarchs, and told us that they served Garlic Junior. I was trying to decide whether or not I should try to attack them when Piccolo got there. I was relieved to see him. However, when he fought them, they were too much for him, especially with Yamucha joining in. It was ridiculous. The Makeo star had given them exorbitant amounts of power.

I would have helped Piccolo, but I was still trying to keep Maron safe from everyone. I heard the Monarchs talk about the Black Water Mist, however. They mentioned something called the Ultra Holy Water that would reverse its effects, but boasted that even that would not work after 24 hours. They even went so far as to announce rather loudly that the Ultra Holy Water was stored on Kami's Lookout. I think that they were trying to get us to go there. Gohan didn't want to leave Piccolo, but he eventually agreed to come along. Maron insisted upon coming with us. I wanted to just take her and drop her off someplace safe, but she was very adamant.

"But it'll be dangerous," I told her.

"So, you'll just protect me, won't you Kurin-chan?"

Sigh...

We flew to Karin Tower. We tried to be careful in case it was dangerous, but Maron was very loud, proving herself to be a liability. Fortunately, all that we found there were an unaffected Yajirobe and Karin-sama. Gohan and I were grateful to dump her on them, despite their protestations. I have to admit that I enjoyed seeing Maron interact with Karin-sama. She called him "cute kitty-chan" and scratched his chin. The best part was that he enjoyed it, and actually PURRED before he got upset and told her to cut it out. Hahahaha. Oh, I'll treasure that sight to the grave.

We flew up a little higher to Kami's Lookout and saw Garlic Junior waiting for us. He was very small and bluish green, with pointed ears. Gohan and I tried to attack him, but we didn't even make it halfway across the lookout before the Monarchs got there with Piccolo in tow. They said that he'd been bitten and was now a zombie like the others. The situation seemed pretty miserable.

Piccolo and Gohan started to fight, and I was left to handle Garlic Junior's henchmen. I had the crap beaten out of me. Without the Makeo star, they would have been no match for me in a million years, but the way it was, they were pretty strong. I couldn't even hold my own against them. Gohan wasn't faring so well either, trying to fight both them and Piccolo. I could tell that he really didn't want to be fighting Piccolo, who was a closer friend to Gohan than... well, than anyone, really. The year that they spent training together had a great impact on both of them forever.

Of course, I was afraid for the fate of our entire planet, but right then I was most focused on trying to protect Gohan. I knew that I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to him. While I wouldn't exactly say that my concern was misplaced, it was a little backwards. He ended up protecting me more than anything. I would definitely have been killed by the Monarchs if not for Gohan...

When one of Garlic's men prepared to fire a ki blast at Gohan, all I could think of was to protect him. I guess it might have made more sense to shove him out of the way of the blast or to deflect the blast itself with one of my own, but I had a split-second to think about it, and I threw myself in front of it.

I absorbed the whole blast, hard. I was just barely strong enough to take it all. I had a feeling like being hit in the stomach with a baseball bat, and I blacked out for a little while. When I woke up, two of the Four Monarchs were dead. I didn't know what happened to them, but I can guess. As I've said, it isn't a good idea to get Gohan mad, and nothing makes him madder than hurting his friends. For a moment, I wondered who should be protecting whom.

I got back into the fight, and things still looked pretty bad. Gohan was having trouble, which was frustrating. If he was strong enough to just blow them away as he had, why didn't he go ahead and finish the other two off? I couldn't figure out why he didn't have access to all of his power whenever he wanted it. Now, I think I know-- but that's a revelation for later. I digress.

The fight went on like that for a while, and then Piccolo grabbed me. His head moved toward me, and I panicked as I realized what he was going to do - he was biting me. I was terrified. Was I going to become a zombie now? What would that feel like? What might I do while in that state? What if I killed someone - how could I live with that? But Piccolo did not bite me. He just made it look like he was biting me, and quickly mumbled, "It's an act. Free Kami."

It took me a couple of seconds to grasp the meaning of what he'd said, but I got it. It was pretty clever planning on Piccolo's part - he hadn't really turned into a zombie, and his acting as such was a ruse to get an opening to free Kami-sama. I dutifully did my best zombie impression.

Garlic Junior gloated at Gohan that now all of his friends were against him. Gohan looked petrified. I was paying more attention, however, to the jars containing Kami and Mr. Popo. Garlic Junior had been carefully guarding them, but in that moment, he wasn't paying much attention. If Gohan had made a move, they would have stopped him, but the last thing they would expect was a move from me - I was on their side now. (Seriously, they were completely falling for it. Garlic Junior was pretty lame. Frieza or Cell would never have fallen for a trick like that.)

I seized the moment and freed them from the jars, thus playing my big role in saving the world. Garlic Junior and his boys stared at me for a moment in dumbfounded confusion, completely unable to figure out what had happened. Luckily, Piccolo took a little time out to explain everything to the whole group so that no one would be confused. In retrospect, I wonder a bit why he felt that necessary. I guess it was to bring Gohan up to date, but Gohan's a smart kid, he would have figured it out. Maybe he was just really proud of his cunning plan and wanted to share it with everybody. Come to think of it, that does sound kind of like Piccolo. Hmm...

After Piccolo's helpful recap, he told Kami to hurry and get the Ultra Holy Water that would cure all of the zombies on Earth. Kami seemed to think that this would be a dangerous job - it was something about the water being guarded by all of the previous guardians of the Earth, although why former guardians of a planet would want to stop the current one from saving said planet is frankly beyond me. Garlic Junior laughed hideously and said that after dawn, the zombies would be fully under his spell and not even the holy water would cure them. That really put everything in a more serious light. We realized that if we didn't pull through and do it fast, everything that we knew was doomed.

Kami and Popo went off to collect the water. Garlic's henchmen tried to stop them, but Gohan and I handled that. The real battle for the Earth's fate after that was as much with Kami as it was with us. Even if we defeated Garlic Junior, what would we do about several billion zombies? I guess we could have wished them back to normal with the dragon balls, but still, you get the point.

As if the zombie problem wasn't bad enough, the Makeo Star was getting even closer. I could see it in the sky. This meant that Garlic and his minions were getting even stronger. I used Kienzan on the one I was fighting, and he _CAUGHT_ it. I don't mean that he blocked it - so far as I know that's impossible - he caught it and threw it back at me. How was I supposed to compete with that? Not even the Ginyu force had been that fast.

We thought we had them at one point, but then we heard a scream and saw a lot of dust thrown up. Garlic Junior had transformed into his ultimate form, which looked like a huge, incredibly muscular Namekian. Piccolo had his hands full fighting that thing as Gohan and I started fighting the Monarchs again.

I was beaten very, very badly. I sustained some pretty serious wounds, possibly including a concussion when I was knocked out. I tried to fight back, but I was really brutalized... Of course, when I woke up it had happened again. I was in Gohan's arms, being carried back to the Lookout after being thrown off. The last two Monarchs were now dead. Gohan didn't play around.

Finally, it was down to the three of us against Garlic Junior. Garlic Junior was a very strange person. He had a way of speaking that brought to mind a child who has frequently been picked on by bullies, he laughed a jarring, ear-rattling laugh, and he had a disturbing affinity for painfully bad baseball puns. You're going to think I'm insane for saying this, but in a strange way, I almost enjoyed battling him. Yes, the Earth was in danger. Yes, I was terrified. Yes, I had the hell beaten out of me (in case you've never been through that, let me just say that it isn't fun). However, after the Saiyans and Frieza, Garlic Junior almost felt like a vacation. That was probably the only battle where I was actually strong enough to knock the main bad guy around a bit. There's something fulfilling about that.

Garlic's final form was strong, but not so strong that the three of us together couldn't handle him. The things that made the battle frustrating were not his strength. Firstly, Garlic Junior was immortal. All three of us landed blows that would otherwise have definitely killed him; at one point, Gohan even put a hole you could throw a medicine ball through in his midsection, but he just laughed and healed it. The other thing was that Piccolo wasn't very reliable. Kami was obviously having horrible things done to him wherever he was, because Piccolo's strength kept leaving him. I hadn't realized until then just how tied the two of them were.

We kept fighting him, but we couldn't really make any headway. No matter how much we beat him down, he would just get up again. I couldn't conceive of any way to conclusively defeat him. In the end, it seemed, he would just wear us down.

After about an hour, though, Kami-sama finally managed to get the Ultra Holy Water and spread it over Earth. All over the world, people woke up in strange positions of destruction, not remembering a thing about what had happened. Consequentially, no one remembered Garlic Junior or his zombie army at all, which might lead you to doubt the veracity of this entire chapter. All I can say is that you have my honest word that it is true; I remember it and Gohan remembers it, and every account of the strange events that happened that day you can find should fit with what I've said. If you don't want to believe me, then I suppose that's your choice.

It wasn't over yet, though. Garlic Junior was incensed about having his plans ruined. In fact, he was so angry that he opened a portal to the Dead Zone, screaming that if nothing else, he'd make us suffer as he had. Can you believe that he was actually stupid enough to bring back the same thing that had been the instrument of his defeat before? It wasn't as if WE had any way of summoning the Dead Zone, or as if we had any other way of defeating him. All I can think of is that we'd hold him while someone gathered the dragon balls and wished him mortal so we could kill him. I wince just thinking of that - it's so impractical. I guess Garlic Junior had decided at this point that it didn't really matter anymore. He just hated us and wanted revenge.

The suction of the portal was very strong and began to pull in parts of the Lookout, especially the rubble that had been strewn about in our battle. Gohan put up a shield of ki around the three of us to protect us from it, but it was obvious that he couldn't hold it forever.

It was evident that we had to get Garlic Junior into that rift somehow, but he was too strong for that to happen. It was Piccolo who hit upon the answer. It was staring us in the face - the Makeo star. If it were destroyed, Garlic Junior would become very weak and would be sucked into the void. He also knew who had to do it - Gohan. I just wasn't strong enough, and Piccolo was too battle-weary. Only Gohan could destroy the Makeo star.

Yet, Gohan refused. He maintained that he couldn't both attack and hold the shield at the same time, and he didn't want to let go of the shield. You have to understand that it wasn't himself that Gohan was worried about - it was for Piccolo and I, his two best friends, that he was concerned. He wanted to protect us. It was very noble of him, but we really didn't have a choice. Both Piccolo and I told him to drop the shield and fire, but he refused.

Piccolo and I eventually just left the shield on our own so that Gohan would have no choice. Garlic Junior realized what he was doing and tried to stop him, but Piccolo and I prevented him. Gohan fired a ki blast that destroyed the Makeo star. We were very lucky then. The explosion could have easily thrown the Earth or other bodies in our solar system out of their normal orbits, but it didn't. The debris from the destroyed body could have rained upon the earth and ravaged its surface far more surely than any evildoer's plot, but it didn't. We were incredibly lucky.

Garlic Junior lost his power and was immediately sucked into the rift. In a frightening moment, the same almost happened to me. I flew as hard as I could away from the void, but it almost had me. At one point, my right foot dipped in, and it felt deathly cold. I put one last surge of power into my flight and managed to get away before it closed.

There you have it - the story of how Earth was saved from Garlic Junior. Of course, Goku could have defeated him by looking at him sideways, but maybe we were actually lucky that he wasn't on Earth, because if he had been, then he might have been turned into one of Garlic's zombies by the mist. Man, would we have been screwed.

We were very relieved, happy, and tired. In a rare moment of warm behavior, Piccolo said some things that made it clear that he cared about us - not just Gohan, but me as well. I felt very close to both of them in that moment. It had been the three of us against Nappa, and it was the three of us then. A human, a Namekian, and a half-Saiyan, bonded by friendship and by common adversity. I get a bit wistful talking about it.

We went down to Karin's place for some much-needed senzu. Maron expressed annoyance that we'd left her there and asked why we'd fooled around for so long.

"Just when I'd finally developed a bit of faith in humans," muttered Piccolo. I just sighed and said that it was a long story.

Back on the ground, I went back to trying to build a relationship with Maron. It seemed to be going better than before, although that may have been just wishful thinking on my part. I started having fantasies of marriage. Then, I thought, my life would finally be complete, and my first thought every time things looked bad wouldn't be "oh, I've wasted my life." I was just tickled by the concept. Things were going great.

However, something began to trouble me. It was the classic Kuririn self-deprecation kicking into gear again. I started to idolize Maron, to think that she was perfect. She was too perfect - I wasn't good enough for her. Oh, I told myself, it would be great if a wonderful girl like her could be interested in a guy like me, but the world didn't work that way. She was amazing, and I was nothing - a short, spineless, worthless nothing. I was deluding myself to think that she would do anything but laugh in my face if I proposed - or so I told myself.

We had a party at the Kame house to celebrate Umigame the turtle's birthday. Because Umigame was the focus of the party, I found myself talking to him, something that I didn't do often despite living with him. He just blends into the background very readily. I was surprised to find how much Umigame actually had to say. I confided my fears about Maron to the turtle, who recommended that I win her love with a gift. In fact, he knew of a great pearl under the ocean that would be perfect.

Gohan and I set off soon after that to find the pearl. We did find it, but we also found a legion of fish protecting it. The pearl seemed to be of great importance to the fish, so much that they would put their lives in danger to protect it.

We were quite capable, of course, of beating up the fish and taking the pearl, but we would have been monsters to do a thing like that. If you consider that those fish can be compared to Namekians, and that the pearl they protected can be compared to a dragon ball, you might say that we would have been just like Frieza, having our way with a peaceful race just to get what we wanted. Gohan and I left the pearl.

I resigned myself after that to having no chance with Maron. I decided to break it off with her.

We were walking on the beach in the evening when I told her.

"Maron," I said, and the words choked at my throat. I felt I had to press on, though. I was filled with a sense of purpose - this relationship was impossible, and I'd only make things worse by prolonging them. "You know... they say that if you love something, you should set it free." I mentally slapped myself. What an awful cliché.

"What?" she said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we can see each other anymore. You aren't the problem, Maron-chan. I am. I'm sorry."

We had stopped walking. She frowned slightly for a few moments, and then smiled.

"Too bad, Kurin-chan," she said. "It was nice." She began to walk away.

"Oh," she said, "By the way... I know what it was that you were thinking of asking me. You know, I wouldn't have said no."

I think I felt my heart stop. What had she said to me?

I felt a pain tear at my insides as I watched her walk away. What had I done? I tried to run after her, but it was too late - A guy who was driving by offered her a ride, and she accepted. I would never see her again, and I knew it. I just stayed there for a while, feeling sad and loathing myself.

Later, my friends would comfort me. I told them that she'd broken up with me, but they saw right through me. They knew that it had been the other way around. My friends told me that I'd done the right thing, that she hadn't been right for me, that I was better off without her. They were right. I had very good friends who cared about me, and even in that moment of intense self-pity, I realized that fact. However, I felt a powerful sadness, as if a part of me had died. I imagined that it gave up its ghost in the form of the single tear that I cried, concealed from my friends behind a pair of shades.

In a way, a part of me had died. In picking myself up afterward, I matured greatly, leaving some of the foolishness and innocence of my youth behind. I still didn't understand love, but I knew now not to covet it as I had. I also became a less jealous person. I didn't make any progress on my self-esteem; that would have to come later. We must all pay our price to grow.

I would come to realize that it really was for the best that Maron and I hadn't ended up together. It wasn't that Maron was a bad person. Despite some bad things I may have said about her here, she was a good person, and she was kind to me, which is more than I can say about a lot of people. Really, we just weren't the right ones for each other. I hold no grudge to Maron - I sincerely hope that she is doing well.

It would not be long after that that I would meet my true love. However, tremendous strife awaited us all before the day that I would realize that love would come.

--END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE--

CLUNKY CONTINUITY NOTE II: Writing this chapter gave me a headache. This is why I don't usually like writing about the anime...

Okay, here's what I changed:

1) Haiya Dragon. This guy is in the anime. He's called Icarus in the dub. This cute and amiable creature is, as far as I understand it, from one of the movies. I wrote him out because Gohan doesn't really have a chance to meet him and it makes no sense that he would vanish later on. This main change also accounts for Maron being protected and carried by Kuririn rather than (you guessed it) Haiya Dragon. Simple.

2) Movie One. As noted in chapter 11, in this fic Kuririn had nothing to do with movie one because he isn't supposed to know that Gohan exists until he meets him when Raditz arrives. In this chapter, that just means that Kuririn doesn't know who this Garlic guy is, whereas in the anime, he does. Again, simple.

3) The breakup scene. I rewrote it slightly. So sue me, I like it like this.

4) Logic inconsistencies. In the anime, we have some Evil Filler(tm) moments in which things that make no sense happen. I've dutifully eradicated these. Examples - Chichi having a ki flare. Gohan having enough trouble fighting his mother to necessitate hitting her. Just stuff like that.

5) Dub-sub confusion. Okay, I took "Four Monarchs" from the sub, Garlic's baseball puns from the dub, "Black Water Mist" from the dub, "Ultra Holy Water" from the sub. Sorry about that, but I just use the names and elements that I like the best.


	24. A Warning From The Future

~Chapter 24: A Warning From The Future~

Almost a year went by after the defeat of Garlic Junior where things were pretty much normal. I kept studying, and I started writing some short stories. I even sent off a few and got some interesting form rejection letters. I also started training again. You'd think that I would have had enough of that by then, but I'd actually been training for so long that it felt kind of weird not to train. Moreover, the attack of Garlic Junior seemed like a bit of a wake-up call - we never knew when the Earth might be threatened, so I decided to be as prepared as possible. I didn't train obsessively like Vegeta or anything, but I held myself to a certain number of hours each week. Whenever I saw Yamucha, we'd usually spar - he'd been training too. He was actually about even to me at that time.

They finally held the 24th Tenka'ichi Budokai at some point. I could have participated. I could have been the champion of that tournament without using my hands or my right foot. When I heard that it was going to be held, I did consider entering, but I decided against it. I guess I had several reasons for that. First, it wouldn't have been much of a challenge. None of the best fighters I knew had the time or inclination to enter the tournament, so I probably wouldn't even have broken a sweat. I'm sorry if this is sounding arrogant, but it's only the truth. Ever since Namek, I'd been sick of competitive martial arts. It was different than it had always been before.

Before Namek, I was already way above the human level of skill. Still, back then it didn't feel like a total wash. A truly skilled master might still have been able to surprise me, and if I'd fought a lot of people or someone with a weapon, they could have easily taken me down. After my resurrection, however, everything had changed. I could strike the fleetest of fighters several hundred times in calculated places all over their body before they could so much as complete their stance. I could direct a ki blast from my fingertips that would destroy the whole arena. It wasn't fair anymore.

I've heard a lot of people say that they retired from fighting because they felt that they couldn't compete with Goku and his friends. Can you imagine how it felt for us? I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, the art of fighting died on Namek. I could no longer realistically fight anyone. I'd be constantly concentrating on controlling my movements, for fear of accidentally striking a fatal blow that wouldn't leave enough of my opponent to bury. It would feel rigid, totally unenjoyable. It was a little better fighting people more or less on my own level of skill, like Yamucha or Gohan, but even then, it didn't feel quite right. We couldn't go all out for fear of our own safety and even our surrounding environment. In fact, the only time that we could go all out was when we were fighting some monster that was terrorizing the Earth. Once, fighting had been invigorating, an honorable pursuit that led us to drive our spirit and stamina to the limit. Now, it was either boring or incredibly frightening.

If I had entered the 24th Tenka'ichi Budokai, I would have won, but there would have been no joy in such a victory. It would have felt like cheating. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to feel like you're cheating just to use your own toughness and skill that you have striven for endlessly and earned through tireless work. I did not enter the tournament. I couldn't have if I'd wanted to.

That tournament should have been a return to martial arts as they're supposed to be. Unfortunately, the turnout was pretty poor. I wish that Yajirobe or someone had entered so that we would have seen some real fighting. The way it went, Mr. Satan won it.

Mr. Satan wasn't a bad fighter - he won the 24th Tenkai'chi Budokai on the strength of his own skills and courage. What made him impossible to bear was his unrelenting arrogance. In the history of the tournament, no one dished out the trash talk like Mr. Satan. The way that he treated his opponents was very dishonorable. In the Cell Games, we found out that he was an annoying combination - an idiot, a coward and a braggart. Mr. Satan would come to be a thorn in our sides for a while, persisting in being stupid enough to think that he, the mighty hero, could defeat threats like Cell and Buu that had a few million times his power. We learned to just sigh, roll our eyes at his antics, and try to ignore him.

We've had to accept Mr. Satan since he's become Gohan's father-in-law. He isn't that bad. He may be an annoying buffoon, but you get used to it. To be fair, he's a bit smarter than he used to be.

Life at home was interesting. Muten Roshi and Oolong were quite a pair to bear living with, but I loved them. They had first gotten to know each other during the year that I was training for the battle against the Saiyans. I guess they found that they had more in common than famously large collections of pornography and disturbing obsessions with panties. Haha, sorry, I'm being too venomous. Really, Oolong has been a great friend to Roshi-sama. The old master had spent so many years alone, I wonder how long it had been since he'd met a true friend. Oolong identified with this, having lived somewhat in isolation himself. When he lost his mansion, he moved into the Kame House, where he was welcomed. When I returned, there wasn't much of a problem; Oolong and I get along pretty well. The only incident that caused trouble between us was the time that I neglectfully served bacon for breakfast. The indignant pig still hasn't forgiven me for that one, nor has he forgiven Roshi-sama, who called the offending meal "tasty".

Nothing terribly exciting happened for a while. What a hopelessly mixed blessing such times are! You're relieved that everything is peaceful, yet you are restless for something to happen. I guess it's human nature to be dissatisfied with the current situation, no matter what that is. This blessedly dull period was brought to an abrupt end the day that I sensed a powerful ki arrive on the planet.

At first, I was happy: Goku had returned! However, I quickly realized that the ki didn't feel like Goku at all - it was Vegeta, not Goku, who had returned to Earth. I wasn't sure how to feel about that. While I didn't really have any fear that Vegeta still planned to destroy our poor little planet, I didn't entirely trust him. I pondered his motives for a few hours, and then I received a phone call. Oolong rather nervously passed the phone to me.

"Hello?" I said.

"You're the human..." a terse voice replied, "...Kuririn?"

I blinked. It was the closest Vegeta had yet come to addressing me by name. "Yes."

"Come to Capsule Corporation Headquarters. Be quick," said the voice, followed by a resounding click.

My curiosity compelled me to obey. Leaving Oolong and Roshi-sama with inadequate explanation, I arrived at my destination within an hour. I met Vegeta there. He would say nothing to me until everyone arrived. Bulma seemed clueless as to what he planned to say. Gohan, Yamucha and surprisingly, Piccolo arrived to hear Vegeta's announcement. Everyone stood there and looked at him for a few seconds, all of us extremely uncomfortable. The tension was thick when Vegeta finally spoke.

"Frieza is alive," he said.

I felt a chill run through my body and sink straight into my heart. I went numb with shock, yet in the back of my mind I was thinking, "Of course he is. You cannot kill what is unstoppable. Defying Frieza is death - we were stupid to think we escaped."

"That's impossible!" said Gohan. "Dad--"

"Kakarotto did not kill him. As usual, his softness disgusts me," said Vegeta.

My voice trembled as I spoke, trying to convince myself more than anything. "But... I thought that Goku..."

Vegeta shot me a look. "Why so surprised, human? You'd have stabbed me in the back yourself if not for his pathetic mercy."

Well, I have to admit that he had me there. No one said anything for a few seconds.

"Frieza is alive," repeated Vegeta, "and he's coming here."

Dead silence followed. Someone, maybe Yamucha, said, "What are we going to do?"

"Honestly?" said Vegeta. "Do whatever you want. All the strongest fighters on this planet are standing here, and I can sense that none of you has become strong enough to fight Frieza... Enjoy your last days."

So, that was it. The time since Namek had been merely a bonus period, a little coda to our lives. We were doomed all over again.

We tried to train to fight Frieza, but we did so with the air of men who have been sentenced to death. Going by what Vegeta said, we didn't have nearly enough time to get that much stronger. I thought of contacting Tenshinhan, but I didn't know how. I gave everyone at the Kame House the bad news, but I didn't see the point in troubling anyone else that I knew with it. When Frieza arrived, he would probably just destroy the entire planet.

True to Vegeta's word, less than two weeks later I felt a tremendous evil ki approach. I instantly recognized it as Frieza. I sat down for a couple of minutes. Images of our previous battle with Frieza flooded my mind. I was so afraid. I didn't know if I could face it again. However, I realized - I had to realize that I had to fight him. I was not a coward. There were less than ten people on Earth with the power to stand some kind of a chance, and I was one of them. I had a responsibility to go.

I followed the power to its source. I ended up in a desert plains area. What I found there was a powerful ki cluster, but not Frieza. Vegeta, Yamucha, Piccolo, Gohan, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, Bulma and Pu'ar were there. I guess Tenshinhan and Chaozu must have sensed him as well. It was brave of Chaozu to come, especially since I could tell by a quick scan of his ki that my previous assessment had been right: Chaozu had hit his limit that day on Kami's lookout. His power level couldn't have been higher than 800. As for Bulma and Pu'ar, they said that they wanted to see this Frieza before they died. I guess that's admirable, but I wished they hadn't come. I was afraid that Frieza would do worse to them than just blowing them away with the whole planet as he might have done if they'd stayed in hiding.

It was a little heartening to see everyone there. The Earth was not without its line of defense. There would be a fight that day.

Of course, I realized how hopeless it was. Piccolo, Vegeta, and Gohan were the only ones among us who could make it past the first punch with Frieza. No matter how I looked at it, I was sure I'd die that day. Still, I tried to keep my courage up. I could only think that, as hard as we'd worked to get this far, we couldn't let Frieza just destroy it all. We had to fight, even though we knew it was impossible to win.

"They're here," said Piccolo.

I could feel him. Frieza's power was every bit as terrible as it had been over a year ago on Namek. Yamucha and Tenshinhan, who had never encountered Frieza, were visibly awed.

"Wait a minute," said Yamucha, "Was Frieza always like this?"

"This is only the beginning," I told him. He fell silent.

Against that terrible power, it was all we could do to hold our ground. We realized that it wasn't just Frieza - there were two kis that felt like his. It became very hard to stay brave. I honestly thought that it was the end of the world.

They had landed on the other side of a range of small mountains. We suppressed our kis and waited for Frieza to make his move. It never happened.

From the other side of the mountain, we felt a large ki appear and many kis disappear. Before we could figure out what had happened, we saw an amazing thing in the sky.

At first, I couldn't believe my eyes. Yet, no matter how I looked at it, I couldn't deny that I was witnessing the death of Frieza. A man matching Gohan's description of the Super Saiyan - vertical blonde hair, golden aura - cut Frieza into pieces with a sword and destroyed those pieces with a simple ki blast. It was almost as if he were an angel, descended from the sky to lift us from our troubles. The Earth was saved.

After killing Frieza, our savior quickly sunk back behind the mountains. Naturally, we all flew after him. Can you blame us for being curious?

We saw him fight a being that looked similar to Frieza, but much larger. For some strange reason, he gave the thing his sword - the one he'd used to kill Frieza. Frieza's companion tried to attack him with the sword, but he impaled the creature with a ki blast and finished him off with another.

It wasn't possible. How could anyone be that powerful? We couldn't do anything but wait for his next move. He looked fairly ominous, and his power was scary. I started to wonder if we might not be facing an even greater threat than--

He powered down, turned, and waved to us. "Hey," he said, "I'm gonna go wait for Goku-san! Want to come with me?"

Actually, once I got a good look at him I felt a bit silly. He was just a teenager.

After much growling and blustering, everyone agreed to follow him. A lot of us weren't sure if we could trust this powerful stranger, but for me, right about then anybody who had just killed Frieza was my new best friend. I felt so relieved that I couldn't care less about what his motives were.

He was pretty courteous to us - he seemed to know exactly when and where Goku would arrive, and he even offered us soda while we waited - but he was very secretive. He wouldn't tell us who he was, how he knew when Goku would show up, or how he could be a Super Saiyan when the only Saiyans alive were supposed to be Gohan, Goku and Vegeta. Bulma pointed out that he was wearing a jacket with the Capsule Corporation insignia on it; he wouldn't say anything about that either. As I've said, he was fine by me, but his presence really seemed to piss off Vegeta. It's probably just because he was stronger than Vegeta was. Generally, anyone stronger than Vegeta pisses him off.

He was a nice, shy young man of about seventeen with blue hair and a face that strongly resembled both Bulma and Vegeta. As it would turn out, his name was Trunks. You've probably heard of Trunks, the son of Bulma Briefs and the president of Capsule Corporation. You might also know that he wasn't born until late 766, about two and a half years after Frieza came to Earth. Are you confused yet?

Since he wouldn't tell us how he knew anything, the going theory was that he was someone Goku had met in space. It seemed reasonable enough - one more Saiyan than had previously been thought had escaped the destruction of their planet, and they'd met somewhere. Of course, that story was full of holes, and it would end up being woefully inaccurate.

About three hours later, a sphere impacted the earth nearby. From it, sure enough, emerged Goku, who was wearing some strange alien garment. Goku was justifiably surprised to find us waiting for him. We showed him the person that had told us.

"Um... who's that?" said Goku. So much for theories.

The two of them walked a good distance away from the group and started to talk. Then, they both turned into Super Saiyans. The power unleashed was staggering. Now it was easy to understand how Frieza had been defeated.

It almost looked as if they were going to fight. Then, for a frightening minute, it looked as if they were fighting. If they had been, the rest of us would have been helpless - they dwarfed us in power. However, it turned out that he was just testing Goku, and they soon went back to normal.

They talked for a long time. The rest of us got kind of upset waiting. Every now and then, Goku would scream hysterically and flail his limbs around, so we knew they had to be talking about something interesting. When they were done, Trunks left and Goku came back to us.

I was so curious I thought I'd explode. "What did he say, Goku?"

Goku just stuttered a lot. He didn't seem to know quite what to say. In the end, Piccolo had to tell us everything. We're lucky that Namekians have such good hearing.

Piccolo had a lot to say. What he told us was shocking and scary: we'd been saved from one threat only to have to face another.

The young man was from twenty years in the future; after what had just happened, this much wasn't hard to accept as fact. In his time, the human population of the Earth was down into the tens of thousands. The planet had been ravaged by two androids created by Dr. Gero of the Red Ribbon Army. Trunks had tried and tried to fight them, but they were too strong. That part was the worst to hear. It was inconceivable to me at that time that anything could be strong enough to defeat someone who had so easily destroyed the nightmare that was Frieza. According to Trunks, three years from that day the defenders of the Earth would die fighting the androids. Of all of us, only Gohan would survive. As for Goku, he was to have already perished from heart disease. The invincible Goku, killed by heart disease! What a strange thought...

The point to the whole explanation was that on a date nearly three years later, we would have to fight these androids that were powerful enough to defeat the killer of Frieza. If we weren't strong enough by that time, we would all die. He also gave Goku some heart medicine that they had in the future. We had a hell of a three years ahead of us. The only thing that Piccolo didn't tell us was the identity of Trunks. It made sense for him not to tell us. If Bulma and Vegeta had been told then that they had to have a kid together, you could have bet anything it wouldn't happen. I can just see the hysteric fits that both of them would have had. Yikes.

My feeling of relief was replaced by a tremendous anxiety that put a lump in my throat. To think that we'd have to live for the next few years under such a shadow, I almost preferred Frieza. A man from the future had basically foretold our deaths. I knew from that moment that I'd never be able to escape the pressure to train hard enough to survive in the coming battle. If I didn't, I would die. The man from the future had said so.

It was Bulma, demonstrating her famed genius, who nearly saved everything. She came up with a logical plan. Since we knew the future, we could find Dr. Gero immediately and stop any of it from ever happening. We could just use the dragon balls to determine his whereabouts.

It was Vegeta, demonstrating his famed arrogance, who prevented this from happening.

"Listen to me," he said, "If anyone does that, I'll kill them!"

Of course, I know exactly what he was thinking. It was classic Saiyan pride: the thought of an incredibly strong opponent did nothing but excite Vegeta. It was only a challenge for him to rise above; he WOULD be the strongest - if Kakarotto was a Super Saiyan, he'd just have to become one as well. Terribly predictable.

"This isn't a game!" screamed Bulma. She turned to Goku. "This is for the fate of the Earth, right?"

"Um... sorry," said Goku, "But I want to fight too."

Poor Bulma. She almost fainted, and then she appealed to Yamucha, Tenshinhan, and I. I could see the look of supplication in her eyes... It said, "You guys are human, right? You have to be on my side!"

"Forget these Saiyans," she said, "We don't have to fight! Let's just save the world!"

However, Tenshinhan mumbled that he wanted to fight and Yamucha didn't say anything at all. Bulma nearly fainted.

I sympathized with her, and I did agree that her plan made a lot more sense, but I was worried about Vegeta. As long as we had a common enemy we were all friends, but otherwise there was no knowing what he would do. As determined as he was, we couldn't just depend on Goku being stronger than him forever either. Therefore, Bulma's proposal was silently voted down, and we all agreed to train for the next three years.

There you have it - if you were ever harboring the idea that we were heroes, you can strike it from your mind now. We had the chance to easily save the world, and we threw it out. It wouldn't be the last time. This is not the way that heroes behave.

Goku also showed us on that day a new technique that he'd learned. The fact that he'd been on another planet learning this technique was the entire reason he'd refused to let Porunga bring him right to Earth. It was called Shukdan Idou - the "Instant Transmission". With this technique, Goku could instantly teleport himself to any person in the universe just by locking onto their ki. Pretty amazing. Of course, it meant that over the next three years, we literally never knew when Goku might show up. Seriously, I started to get a little paranoid. I'd be just walking along, minding my own business, when suddenly Goku would appear out of nowhere and shout, "Hi, Kuririn!" "Cut that out!" I'd scream. After a while, I think that he started doing it just for kicks. Grrr.

I've said "three years" so much that I'm starting to wear out those keys, but really, we didn't have that much time. It was more like two years and nine months. It was the hardest time of our lives. One has to try and maintain some kind of a life - you can't spend all of your time training, it would be physically and mentally exhausting. I tried to keep doing the things that I normally did - read a book now and then, do something with Gohan, stuff like that - but every moment I spent doing something other than training was a guilty moment. I couldn't really enjoy myself; all I could think was "Geez, I should really be training" and "I bet everyone else is training right now." It was torturous.

I did train a lot. I trained so much and with such intensity that I could barely move for hours afterward. I trained with Yamucha, Gohan, Goku and Piccolo, who showed me some new techniques that really helped me get more out of my training. I didn't see Bulma much during that period, and I didn't see Vegeta at all. I know for a fact that Yamucha saw both of them, but he made it clear to me that it was not his favorite topic of conversation. Don't ask me what was going on there, but I can tell you that Yamucha and Bulma were never "boyfriend and girlfriend" again. As for Tenshinhan and Chaozu, they went back to wherever it is they come from. We really don't know that much about them.

We all got a lot stronger. I wondered how much better we could get before we reached our limits. One of us did plateau, but it wasn't me.

About four months after Trunks had come from the future, I was training with Yamucha. We were both really tired. He was attacking me, but I didn't have much trouble blocking. Then, it happened.

Yamucha screamed and kicked at me, and he was suddenly engulfed in a ki flare. The kick came at me much faster than I expected, and it sent me flying. Seeing what he'd done, Yamucha ran to me. It took me a minute to get up.

"I-I'm sorry," he was saying, "I didn't mean to kick you so hard..."

I just stared at him, barely even hearing. It was to his ki, not him, that I was paying attention. The way that his ki had just spiked reminded me of something I'd seen before, but I couldn't place it. I was shocked when I figured it out.

Chaozu. Yamucha's ki felt just like Chaozu's had at the lookout. He'd hit his limit.

I looked at my friend sadly. It wasn't fair, but that was it for him.

"What?" said Yamucha, panting. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said. I didn't tell him what I'd discovered, but I was right. Yamucha never got any stronger after that, and I soon couldn't really spar with him anymore as I passed him up. I was worried that the same would happen to me, but it didn't. I kept breaking ceilings in my training, and my strength increased at an exponential rate.

I really did become stronger than I'd ever dreamed. It didn't hit me until one day when I was training near Goku's house. I was alone, and it occurred to me to test my limits.

I powered up, and I was instantly engulfed in a tremendous ki flare. The ground around me shook, and a lot of dust was thrown up. I decided to try a ki blast. I extended one hand, and a burst of energy emitted from it that seared the air with amazing speed and power. Realizing that I'd accidentally aimed it somewhere where it might cause damage, I flew to stop it. I got in front of the blast with plenty of time to spare, and blocked it easily. It didn't even hurt.

I was left looking incredulously at my own hands, at myself. "My god," I thought, "How can I be this strong? What am I?"

"That was great, Kuririn-san!" came a voice. I discovered to my embarrassment that I was being watched by Gohan.

"Uh, you think so?" I involuntarily grabbed the back of my neck.

"Yeah," he said, "You've really reached a new level... oh, here comes dad."

Then Gohan and Goku sparred. The force of their kis and their attacks was shocking to me. I couldn't keep up even watching, let alone if I had actually been participating. In the face of their power, I felt like nothing.

In that moment, a harsh answer came to the question I'd asked of myself.

"You aren't a Saiyan."

I sneaked away before they could say anything to me.

We were all a little concerned about Goku's health during that time. He kept insisting that he was fine, but most of us spent some time doing something peaceful with Goku, to try to keep him from aggravating his heart condition. Once, I went on a fishing trip with Goku, and Gohan. Man, that was fun. For once, I could almost forget what was hanging over our heads.

The time went by with surprising speed. I barely noticed my own thirtieth birthday. We finally let up in our training to rest a few weeks before May 12, 767. We rested then, in anticipation of that day: the day we'd been training for. The day of the androids.

--END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR-


	25. The Day

~Chapter 25: The Day~

I woke up that morning and put on my Kame School uniform. My thoughts had taken a dangerously fatalist turn. For the fact that I knew where and when our enemies would appear, I really had no idea what to expect. There was one thing I was fairly sure about, however, and it wouldn't stop cycling through my mind that horrible morning.

In the battle to come, I would be little more than collateral damage.

Sure, I got pretty strong in the three years we had to train. I suppose my power level must have been eight or nine million - nothing to sneeze at. However, it wasn't even close to what Frieza had been, and I knew for a fact that the androids would be far stronger than that. If there was any hope, I remember thinking, it would be in the Saiyans. Even though I was thinking mostly of Goku, it seemed a little ironic to be depending on them.

All the residents of the Kame House gathered outside to see me off. We all stood there for a few minutes, unable to say much.

"Kuririn..." said Roshi-sama. "Good luck."

"Thanks," I said, "But it won't be my fight."

"Then stay home!" said Oolong. "Why go get killed? Just stay here and let those crazy Saiyans fight!"

"...Sorry," I said. As when Frieza had come to Earth, I had to go. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I hadn't, no matter what the outcome. I powered up and prepared to leave.

Roshi-sama was sweating, but he kept a brave face. I won't forget what he said.

"Kuririn is a true warrior. He's one of the greats." Praise like that from Muten Roshi put a lump in my throat.

He reached through my ki flare - that white barrier that I so often find separating me from people that I care about - and took my hand.

"Good luck, just the same," he said.

I bit my lip to keep from crying. I tried lamely to say something for a few seconds, and then I took off.

I met Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo in the air.

"Hey, Kuririn!" said Goku. "Why do you look so sad?"

I was shocked at his comment, but from looking at him, I could tell that he wasn't troubled at all by everything that impended.

"I'm sorry, Goku," I said. "I'm not a Super Saiyan."

We found an island at more or less the coordinates Trunks had described. Things looked pretty bad - there was a heavily populated town there, full of people who could get hurt. On a mountain to one side of the island, we met Yamucha, Tenshinhan, and surprisingly, Bulma. Whatever Tenshinhan had done to train, he'd done well - he was a bit stronger than I was. As for Bulma, she was holding a baby.

I couldn't believe it - Bulma, a mother! I hadn't heard anything about this. "Did you and Yamucha-san get married?" chimed Gohan.

Yamucha folded his arms and grunted. "That child... is not my son."

Oddly, it was Goku, not Bulma or Yamucha, who revealed the identity of the father. He even addressed the baby by name! "Your father's Vegeta, isn't it, Trunks?" Goku had to do some frantic covering-up after he remembered that he wasn't supposed to know that. I had somewhat of an idea from that moment about who that mystery man from the future had been.

Of course, everyone was shocked to hear that Bulma and Vegeta were parents of a child. Bulma insisted that she didn't care about Vegeta, but didn't give us any more details. Yamucha seemed to have already known everything. Sorry, there's more stuff going on there that I'm not the right person to ask about. No one is, really - Yamucha and Bulma clam up on the subject.

We waited, and we started to get anxious. Periodically, we told Bulma to go home(not a chance). Tenshinhan told us that he'd left Chaozu because he wasn't strong enough - that was no surprise to me. Why am I the only one who senses these things? Besides Vegeta, the whole group was there, with one important exception - the androids that we'd gathered to fight! It was already past the time Trunks had said they'd show up, and we couldn't sense a single strong ki. That was the reason we were anxious.

A skycar came to the mountain where we were standing. It contained Yajirobe, who gave us a bag of senzu beans - those would prove very important. He stuck around only long enough to tell us that we were crazy, and then left; he didn't make it far, though. Yajirobe's sky car exploded in the air.

We were totally shocked; we saw two figures fly away from the spot. I didn't understand - we had still felt no ki at all. Gohan figured out that since they were androids, they had no ki - ki is a force held by living things. That seemed to make sense, but I couldn't quite wrap my mind around the concept - no ki? Huh? We'd gotten so used to sensing our opponents.

Gohan went to save Yajirobe, and the rest of us - not Bulma, of course - went down into the town to look for them. It was really frustrating. Not only did we have to find them by sight, we didn't even know what they looked like. Whether we found them was up to total luck. I kept looking for their kis, despite what I knew. Although what we'd discovered about their lack of ki made sense logically, emotionally it felt impossible. You wouldn't understand if you've never felt ki, but it was just something that we came to take for granted. Unfortunately for Yamucha, he was the one to find them first.

I felt Yamucha's ki take a swift dive. I ran to the place I'd felt him. My god, what I saw...

The ground was littered with horribly deformed dead bodies. There were two strange-looking figures. One of them - Android Number 19 - looked like a big, fat version of Chaozu. The other, Number 20, looked like an old man. They were both wearing hats with the logo of the Red Ribbon Army on them. 20 was holding Yamucha in the air by the mouth. Yamucha had been impaled. I could actually see through him. It makes me shake violently in my seat just to think about it.

Number 20 saw us and dropped Yamucha. I ran to him and stared at the androids for a moment - I hated them! How dare they do that to Yamucha? I took him back to where we'd left the senzu.

Bulma, Yajirobe, and Gohan were there. They panicked when I got there carrying Yamucha.

"Oh my god, Yamucha!" said Bulma.

"Senzu, senzu, senzu!" I screamed.

Yajirobe gave it to me and I force-fed it to Yamucha. His gaping wound resealed itself. As relieved as I was, I'll never get used to seeing that.

Yamucha didn't even have time to stand up before an explosion hit the island. It wiped out half the town. We knew immediately that it had been the androids. It was horrible. "They're as terrible as we've been told," I thought.

A few seconds later, we saw Goku, Piccolo, and Tenshinhan take off along with the androids. They were moving the fight. Yamucha said that they had to be warned about the androids - he claimed that they'd used a technique to drain his ki from him when they were holding him. Gohan said that that was terrible and took off immediately to warn everyone. I took off too, bringing the senzu, which we were pretty sure to need. Yamucha said that he didn't want to come, but a few seconds later, I noticed him following me.

The three of us came to a raised plain surrounded by hills. There, Goku was beating up number 19 as a Super Saiyan.

Goku seemed to have the battle pretty well in hand until he fired a ki blast at 19. 19 put its hand out and absorbed the blast. I should clarify that: he didn't just block it, he actually absorbed it. The blast seemed to be sucked into his hand. Yamucha had been right about the energy stealing - they did it through special nodules in their hands.

We told Goku this, and he acknowledged it, but he did so between gasps for breath. The Super Saiyan was acting very strangely - had he been drained that much?

After that, the battle turned. 19 beat up Goku, and he didn't seem to be able to resist much. He was clutching at his chest.

"Oh!" screamed Gohan. "Father has heart disease!"

I thought that I felt MY heart skip a couple of beats. I didn't believe it; really, I didn't want to believe it. All of my hopes had been on Goku. If he was really sick, then we...

I told Gohan not to be ridiculous and threw Goku a senzu. He ate it, but it didn't help. He really did have heart disease. Senzu doesn't cure diseases. Goku had always been healthy, so he'd simply never thought to take the medicine. I hate to disrespect the man, but that's Goku, all right.

Goku was really being beaten up. Soon, he wasn't even a Super Saiyan anymore. 19 leapt on top of him. We all flew to try and rescue him, but 20 got in our way. There was nothing we could do. Luckily, that was when Vegeta got there. He kicked 19 off of Goku.

For once, I was relieved to see Vegeta. However, I wasn't very relieved. I was thinking of what the young man from the future had told us. He'd said that we'd fought the androids and that we had all died. I was worried that it was impossible to change the future. The only thing that had changed my mind was that in his time, we'd not had Goku, but in this time we did. If Goku couldn't fight, I couldn't help but think that history would run its course.

Vegeta cast a disgusted look at Goku and kicked him at us. "Give him his medicine," he said. Yamucha took Goku away from the fight. I was relieved to see him go-- Yamucha, I mean. The fight was way too far out of his league. Actually, it was out of mine as well. I wanted to run.

Vegeta cast a look around, and talked to the androids, who scoffed at him. Vegeta smiled and turned into a Super Saiyan.

I was filled with fear. Vegeta's ki was huge and, disappointingly, as evil as ever. I realized then that Vegeta had never really changed that much. All that had happened was that he'd been humbled by the presence of people stronger than him. Now Vegeta looked as confident as he'd ever been. He laughed madly, proud of his power. Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyans, had returned at last!

I was worried about Vegeta being a Super Saiyan. Sure, it meant that we had a chance against the androids after all, but what would happen after that?

19 attacked Vegeta, with little effect. Vegeta smiled at him.

"You don't feel pain, do you?" he asked the android. "Lucky you."

Vegeta beat the hell out of 19. The android absorbed some of Vegeta's energy, but he broke its hands off and killed it with something he called the "Super Vegeta Big Bang Attack" or some ridiculous garbage like that. It was just a big ki blast. Names like that should have died with the Ginyu Force.

Even though 19 had died, Number 20 still seemed confident. "No matter how strong you are," he said, "You won't be able to defeat the cyborgs." Promptly, he ran like hell.

Vegeta told me to give him a senzu. I was hesitant, but I did it. Vegeta told us to stay out of his way - "Go home and drink your milk" - and then he took off after 20.

"Damn that Vegeta!" I found myself shouting. "I don't even like milk!"

Gohan and Piccolo gave me strange looks. Why in the hell did I say that?

That's just me, I guess... comic relief for the ages.

We all went after him, of course. Number 20 had hidden in the hills. I didn't see anything until I saw Gohan knock 20 off of Piccolo somewhere in the sky. Piccolo asked me for a senzu, which I gave him, and then he faced off with 20.

Amazingly, Piccolo began to beat the crap out of Number 20! I had never even considered him - he was as strong as the Super Saiyans! It seemed that we'd changed the future after all.

Speaking of the future, the young man from the future showed up then. Piccolo absentmindedly shouted, "Trunks!", eliminating any remaining doubt of who he was - this was Bulma and Vegeta's kid. At least that explained how he could become a Super Saiyan.

He looked down upon the battlefield. I wondered idly how he would react to seeing how easily we'd defeated his fearsome cyborgs. He stared right at Number 20.

"Who's that?" said Trunks.

Well, it goes to show that no one - not even time travelers - can really predict everything. While we were trying to figure out what he meant, Bulma showed up in a helicopter. Number 20 took advantage of all of the confusion.

"I'm going to get Number 17 and Number 18 to kill all of you," he said, and he let out a massive ki blast that obscured his escape. It also destroyed Bulma's helicopter, but Trunks saved her - and Trunks(the baby), paradoxically.

Bulma actually turned out to have some useful information. She'd seen 20, and she said that he was really none other than Dr. Gero himself. Apparently, she'd seen his picture some time. Somehow, Gero must have turned himself into a cyborg, which is quite an astonishing feat to accomplish upon oneself. He must have been a genius. Man, I hate that scumbag.

We talked to Trunks, who said that history must be changing. He said that the "17 and 18" Gero had mentioned were the androids that he had warned us about. He described them to us - "A cute girl and boy about my age, with hoop earrings". I blinked several times. That was what the fearsome androids looked like? Actually, Trunks clarified then that they weren't even androids at all. They were cyborgs; the only real androids we met that day were 19 and 16.

Let me explain the difference between cyborgs and androids; it's an explanation I've made before. Androids are robotic constructs designed to look and function like humans, and occasionally having some added biological parts. Cyborgs are basically humans, really. They're just humans that have had some of their natural parts replaced with robotic parts. If I've said anything to interest you in this process, I've misled you terribly. It is cruel and terrible and only a moralless bastard like Dr. Gero would ever even consider perpetrating such a crime. You have no idea what is involved... the entire body is cut open and... well, I'll spare you the details. Brrr. To think that Gero would do this to himself, and that Taopaipai actually volunteered for it... they must have been truly mad.

Bulma told us that Gero's lab was in the general area of the Northern Mountains. We reasoned that that had to be where he was going to go to activate 17 and 18. According to Piccolo, our best plan was to beat him there and destroy the cyborgs before they could be activated.

Predictably, Vegeta was having none of that. His stupid Saiyan arrogance was on full blast. Trunks got very angry and told him that 17 and 18 were so powerful that he had no chance. He said that Vegeta had no way of even conceiving of their power. Of course, the more he said that, the more excited Vegeta only became. Poor Trunks. There was a lot of pain in his eyes and his voice. He had witnessed a global holocaust and only wanted to prevent it from happening again.

Vegeta took off like a comet constructed of hardened pride. Trunks angrily took off after him, shouting that he wasn't about to let his father die again. We had to explain to Bulma that the man from the future was Trunks - it didn't seem to put her off much. Her only comment was that she was glad her baby would grow up to be handsome.

Piccolo, Tenshinhan, and I went off into the Northern Mountains to try and find Gero's lab. Again, Gohan didn't come with us; this time he stayed behind to take Bulma home. Although Gohan was between Tenshinhan and Piccolo in strength, we were making an effort to keep him out of the fighting - his mom didn't want him to fight, and he was still only a kid.

The three of us split up when we got there, planning to raise our ki quickly to let everyone know when we found it. I remember the Northern Mountains being very, very cold, and, oddly, I remember being surprised by that. Obviously, they were going to be cold. What was I thinking? Tenshinhan told me not too kindly to deal with it.

So, I flew around. I wasn't even exactly sure what I was looking for, and the mountain region was very large. I recall thinking to myself, "This is ridiculous! I'm really cold, and I'll never find anything in all of this--"

Oddly enough, it was about precisely that moment when I saw Dr. Gero hop into a carved-out portion of a mountain with a large metal door. I was so dumbstruck by the sight that I just floated there and gaped at him for a few seconds. He turned around and looked back at me, alarmed at being followed, but seemed unworried after he discovered who I was. He was right to be - had I attempted to fight him, he would have kicked my ass, although he's the last of our enemies that I can probably lay claim to being strong enough to defeat if I were to fight him now.

Finally, it occurred to me to do something - I had to act, and hurry! It was almost too late! I raised my ki as quickly and as high as I could, and then flew down to the door of the lab, which he'd already closed behind him, in an attempt to get it open. I was soon joined by Tenshinhan, but not even our combined strength was enough to damage it(you have to wonder what that thing was made of. Tenshinhan and I were more than strong enough to break practically anything.)

Piccolo quickly joined us and prepared to blast the door, but we heard noise from the other side. Dr. Gero was yelling at someone that he called "17". Tenshinhan and I went pale - the cyborgs had been activated. Gero hadn't wanted to resort to this, but we forced him and carelessly allowed him to do it, and we were doomed as a result-- or so it seemed at the time. Fortunately, the cyborgs weren't the same as the ones of which Trunks had warned us.

Sorry, I'm getting ahead of things. Anyway, it was Vegeta that finally blasted down the lab door.

Even with Trunks' description, I wasn't prepared for the appearance of the cyborgs. Unlike the others we'd seen, nothing about them looked artificial; they seemed completely human. The only way that you could tell otherwise was that there was no ki to feel.

They looked very much alike. They were tall and slightly pale. The male one, 17, had long black hair and was actually quite handsome. As for 18, I gasped a bit when I saw her. She was beautiful. She had shocking blue eyes that were intense, yet exquisitely pretty. The understated features of her face seemed to be lit by surrounding locks of blonde hair. I remember thinking that she was even more beautiful than Maron, and I'd never thought that about anyone before.

I couldn't help but stare at her. I remember thinking that she didn't notice me. She informs me currently that she did. Crap.

I was finally shaken out of my trance when Dr. Gero ordered the cyborgs to attack. They didn't. Well, now we knew why he hadn't wanted to use them. 18 noticed an inactivated android in Gero's lab. Gero told her not to touch it, whereupon 17 swiftly killed him by decapitating him and squashing his decapitated head. Even if that feat failed to impress Vegeta, it scared the hell out of me. Number 20 had been stronger than Frieza, and it had taken little effort for 17 to kill him. Since I couldn't feel their ki, there was no way of knowing just how much more power they had.

18 went back to trying to activate the android. Trunks suddenly seemed to realize that this new android might be even worse, and he blasted the entire lab to pieces. It was an impressive show of strength, but 17, 18, and the unawakened android were unharmed. The android was activated after all. It was a large and unattractive thing called Number 16 who proclaimed that his mission was to kill Son Goku, who had destroyed the Red Ribbon Army(It was also the mission of 17 and 18). 16 was bulky, coarse, and ugly - in sharp contrast to 17 and 18. You would never have guessed from looking at 16 that he was a hero.

Then, the three of them just left us there. There was general panic about them going off after Goku. We knew that if they did find him, poor Goku would be as good as dead; with his heart disease, he couldn't even fight back. Vegeta, as usual, couldn't care less about "Kakarotto" - he was just pissed off that the cyborgs had ignored him, and went after them. When Trunks tried to stop him, Vegeta punched him. I think that Vegeta even knew who Trunks really was at that point, too. What a great guy, huh?

After the beleaguered Trunks recovered from that punch, we went after Vegeta. It wasn't hard to follow him, although he had a huge head start. Super Saiyans tend to have ki like a fire alarm. It's almost impossible for a ki-sensing person not to know where they are.

Emotionally, I was a mess. I was terrified, of course, but I was also confused and angry, mostly with myself. What was wrong with me? We were facing possibly the most fearsome enemies yet, so what the hell was I doing thinking about how pretty one of them was? I was incredulous at myself. Was I really that desperate? Was I really that crazy? The other thing was bothering me was that I didn't know whether we were making a mistake. To me, they didn't look evil. I didn't know whether I was just being shallow and judging by appearances, whether I had a stupid crush, or whether I was simply insane. Yet I couldn't stop wondering - if they were really that evil, why did they just leave us there? Were we not worth the effort to kill?

By the time we caught up with Vegeta, he was already fighting 18, and he didn't seem to be doing well. In fact, she looked ready to finish him off. Poor Trunks, who was still trying to protect his father, lost it and flew at her as a Super Saiyan. He swung that sword - the executor of Frieza - at her head. She blocked it calmly with an arm. It chipped.

That's when things got really bad.

Piccolo and Tenshinhan flew to Trunks' aid. If I'd had any courage, I'd have done the same, but I was rooted to the spot by fear and confusion. Besides, the battle happened so quickly. No one landed a blow on the cyborgs. 17 felled Trunks - a Super Saiyan - with a single punch! Tenshinhan was grabbed and strangled. 18 took out both Trunks and Vegeta with no problem. Actually, Vegeta lasted the longest - he was trying to get up at the end, but a swift kick from 18 put an end to that. When it was done, Piccolo, Tenshinhan, Trunks, and Vegeta were all soundly knocked out and some of them were dying. I'd say the whole thing took maybe 40 seconds.

It was terrifying. I couldn't believe they had such power - no one had power like that. The way that they fought was very strange. There didn't seem to be any malice in it. They had a kind of calm grace about it, as if they were barely even trying - as if they weren't even really there. I also felt guilty for not doing anything, but I wouldn't have made any difference. Trunks was right; they were just too strong.

Abruptly, they came up to the highway where I was standing. I panicked and struck a fighting stance, expecting to die within seconds, but they made no move to attack me. Instead, 17 told me that no one was dead, but that I had better heal them.

I couldn't believe it! What did this mean? Obviously, they had left everyone alive on purpose - they would never have done that if they were really as evil as Trunks had told us. What were they really up to, anyway?

"See ya," said 17 to me.

They had a very calm conversation, as if they were pondering their next move in some kind of game, and then they simply met 16 and walked away. They didn't even care!

They kept walking. I had to do something. I had to do something. I had to do something.

I did something. I ran up to them and screamed, "Wait! Stop!"

They stared at me. "What?"

Good question. I really had no idea what I was doing. I had initially planned to attack them, but I quickly saw that for the ludicrous folly that it was. I asked them, as gravely as possible, what they planned to do.

Their response was a veritable shrug! "Oh, I guess we'll kill Son Goku. That's what we were made to do, right?"

I was livid! How could they talk about such things with such abandon? This was the big showdown! This was for the fate of the world! What in the hell were they pulling? They told me that it was just a game. A game! I thought I'd explode. I stood there and fumed at them.

"You should really give your friends senzu before they die," deadpanned 17.

18 walked up to me, leaned in, and kissed me. It was on the cheek, for about two seconds. I told my body to pull away, but actually, I kind of leaned into it.

"Bye," said the cyborgs.

So, that was the cyborgs. Not exactly what we'd been expecting, except in the power department.

If I had to summarize my thoughts then, in order, it would probably come out like this:

"What the hell is going on?"  
"Are they really going to kill Goku?"  
"She kissed me."  
"This is insane! What are we going to do?"  
"After all that training, we were so helpless!"  
"It wasn't a bad kiss, actually. She has soft lips."  
"Wasn't there something I had to do?"  
"Oh, crap! Senzu!"

I ran embarrassedly down the road to save the lives of four fallen warriors. What a strange day.

--END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE--


	26. The Monster

~Chapter 26: The Monster~

I explained what had happened to a disbelieving audience of revived fighters, leaving out any mention of the kiss. I was surprised to find that no one came to the same conclusions that I had. In the eyes of Tenshinhan and Piccolo, what had happened only enhanced their perceptions of the cyborgs' cruelty. They spoke as if the act of letting us live was somehow a mocking act.

That line of thought didn't make much sense to me. After all, they hadn't even started the fight. We provoked them. Even then, they could have easily killed us all, but they didn't. I failed to see the evil in that. The only thing that I was worried about was Goku.

Vegeta fumed silently. His renewed pride had been beaten down yet again. He'd been the strongest for a grand total of about an hour and a half. Imagine what a crushing blow it must have been for him - a Super Saiyan at last, the strongest in the universe! - to be beaten by a girl. Don't you feel sorry for him? Nah, I didn't either.

Trunks was worried when Vegeta took off that he was going to follow the cyborgs, but I knew better. Vegeta was a fool, but he didn't have a death wish. He was probably going off to train some more.

Piccolo was scowling. "I have a plan," he said.

Finally, some good news. We could count on Piccolo. However, when I tried to confide in him, he yelled at me.

"Shut up! Have you forgotten who I am? I am Piccolo, the Great Demon King! Don't call ME your friend!" With this unexpected outburst, Piccolo too flew away violently.

Tenshinhan was worried about Piccolo, but I assured him that he was lying. Piccolo was just going for his ace in the hole - ever since Namek, we'd been told that Piccolo and Kami would be much stronger if they became one again. It was finally time for Earth to give up its God.

Trunks, Tenshinhan and I murmured nervously, feeling left behind. I sighed at our whole situation. It was hard to believe that these were the people upon whom the Earth depended in its time of crisis. In the epic stories, such people are heroes. There were no heroes among our ranks. We were only a bunch of overgrown martial artists, competing in the biggest tournament ever and trying to do what's right somewhere in the middle of it all. Of all of us, only Trunks may have been a hero. What he'd seen had forced him to become one.

I took Trunks to Goku's house. Tenshinhan left us and said to call him if there was more trouble.

"...Although," he said nervously, "I'm afraid that I won't be much of a help..."

Tenshinhan's eyes darted at me and we exchanged a brief glance. It must have lasted about two seconds, but it carried a deep sympathy. How strange the world had become, that Tenshinhan and I should feel such a deep link simply because we're both human. Neither of us are what you would call normal humans - to start with, he has three eyes and I have no nose - but we are human, and no matter how close you may be to people from other species, there's something to that. I felt kind of as if I was representing the entire weak, unfortunate human race, which was itself defenseless, by fighting. Yet, as strong as I was - for a human, anyway - I wasn't quite good enough. I could tell from that short eye contact that Tenshinhan was feeling something similar.

Trunks and I flew, for the most part, silently. Occasionally, Trunks would speak despondently of the cyborgs. He said that they were much, much stronger than they had been in his time, and that it looked like we had no chance. I agreed that we had no chance at fighting them, but I still wasn't sure that we'd have to. They did seem pretty threatening, but they didn't look so evil. I thought that maybe if we didn't attack them again, we might be able to just talk them down. Of course, I really didn't know that much about them. Trunks, I reasoned, probably knew more about them than anybody, but how could I get up the nerve to ask him? How could I possibly manage the audacity to question a man who has witnessed the fall of civilization as to his opinion of its perpetrators?

Then, however, thoughts of 18 filled my mind. Thinking of her seemed to give me courage like I'd never had in my life.

"Hey," I said to Trunks, "I have to ask you... are the cyborgs really that evil?"

Trunks looked at me as if I had just suggested that water was, perhaps, not wet.

"I mean," I fumbled, "Because, if they weren't, it'd be a lot easier..."

Trunks composed himself. "Don't count on it," he said.

I apologized profusely. What was wrong with me? How could I be so stupid as to suggest a thing like that? Actually, in retrospective I can see what I was really thinking. I was thinking, "How dare I disagree with Trunks/Piccolo/Goku/Tenshinhan/etc.?" "They ought to know better than me." "I'm just an idiot." Basically, I valued my opinion at about diddly-squat over that of these people. Still, even in the face of my total lack of faith in my own convictions, I couldn't manage to purge this particular thought from my mind. It lingered still.

We found Yamucha and Chichi at Goku's house. Yamucha, at least, showed some concern for my well-being. Chichi seemed more disappointed that I wasn't Gohan than anything.

Giving only minimal explanation, we had everyone pack up and move to the Kame House, which would be more isolated and probably a better place to hide out than Goku's house. Gohan arrived shortly and we all went there. We had to carefully carry Goku out into the airplane - he'd taken his medicine and was out cold.

I briefly explained the situation. We started trying to come up with a plan. It looked like we had no chance fighting the cyborgs. Of course, I was still secretly hopeful that we wouldn't have to fight them at all, but I decided not to suffer the consequences of bringing that up again.

I think that some time on that plane ride was when we received Trunks' explanation of time travel. I'm going to relay what I know about the subject to you.

As you may have guessed, assuming that you haven't yet totally dismissed my memoir as ridiculous fantasy, the complexities of time travel are a far cry from the simple rules followed by any kind of travel through space. One cannot simply travel into the past, alter it, and return to see the results (it's a good thing - that would create so many paradoxes that it doesn't even bear thinking about). By the same token, one can't travel into the future and necessarily return with an accurate knowledge of what's going to happen. The very act of time traveling creates a number of diverging timelines. At least, that's the going assumption - it's just as possible that they already exist, and in time traveling, you're hopping between them. We don't really know - not even Bulma, who invented the time machine in Trunks' time, or her father could figure it out for certain.

The point is that no matter what we did in our time, when Trunks returned to his own timeline, everything would be the same as he'd left it - and he knew this. I think that it came up when someone suggested that we just go back in time and fix things, but it really brought Trunks' motives into question. We were extremely grateful to him for saving us, but you had to wonder - If nothing that he did with us could save his own time, what was he hoping to achieve?

Anyway, we didn't even make it to the Kame House as a whole group. We had a phone conversation with Bulma on the way and she faxed us a very strange picture of a machine that was rotted and overgrown with moss, as if it had been standing in the same spot for a few years. When I showed the picture to Trunks, he said that it was, without a doubt, the time machine that he'd come back in. That was very strange. There was no way Trunks' time machine had been sitting anywhere long enough to look like that.

Needless to say, Trunks left immediately to investigate. Gohan went with him, and so we arrived at our destination a bit lighter.

It was good to see the Kame House again. Muten Roshi and Oolong were relieved that I was all right, but were shocked to see us carrying a comatose Goku. I had another big explanation ahead of me.

I don't mind having to be the one to bring people up to date. In fact, it seems like that's what I'm usually doing. Even at times when someone else could have supplied the explanation, I'm the one who ends up doing it. I'm good at it - I'm perceptive and I retain things well, and while I don't enjoy delivering bad news, I've had so much practice at it that I know how to soften the blow - when to bring up what, how to convey my sympathy. At the risk of sounding presumptuous, maybe that's my true gift, rather than fighting - I'm a storyteller. Come to think of it, maybe that's why I'm writing this book: to reprise my role, to fill in the world on what they've missed.

The next thing that I remember is getting a call from Bulma telling us to turn on the television.

The reporter said that 15,000(I have the reports, and that was just the beginning) people were missing. The camera showed images that looked as though they had been taken from a horror movie - piles of clothing and human effects just lying on the street, drained of their former owners. It was terrible to see, and worse to imagine. Of course, our first thoughts went to the cyborgs, but Bulma told me that she thought I was wrong. I immediately agreed with her. I wanted to believe her so badly. I had to, or all of my hopes were completely dashed. If the cyborgs were truly responsible for all of those deaths, then there was no question - they were terrorizing innocent people, and as Roshi-sama once said, we must use our strength to crush such beings with a mighty blow - if we can.

Trunks and Gohan arrived in time to join us in witnessing that piece of news footage that has been immortalized - the reporter looking into the camera, seeing something and turning ghastly pale. The camera drops and we hear the reporter's screams for several seconds before they stop with alarming suddenness.

Then, we all felt a very strange and enormous ki. It felt like a cluster of ki, but my senses told me that it was one person. However, all at once I felt the kis of Vegeta, Trunks, Piccolo, Gohan, Goku, and Frieza. Of course, this was impossible - Goku was fast asleep, and Frieza was dead! For a few moments, I doubted my senses, but everyone else seemed to be sensing it as well.

"I have to check this out," said Trunks. "The rest of you should stay behind - it might be dangerous for you."

Normally, I would have been perfectly content to stay behind. Yet, this time, before I even realized that I was doing it, I blurted,

"I'm going!"

Everyone stared at me.

"I mean," I said, "I really want to see what this thing is..."

"Fine," said Trunks. "Let's go."

Trunks and I flew off toward the strange ki. I didn't want to admit it to him, but the real reason that I was coming was that I wanted to see this powerful creature with my own eyes, to prove to myself that I wasn't wrong, that the cyborgs hadn't been responsible for all of this death. Somehow, I couldn't bear the thought of that.

We found the source of the ki in Ginger Town, one of the towns massacred by Cell. As we got closer, we sensed another incredibly large ki with the one we were searching for. They seemed to be fighting - there were a lot of explosions that made it hard to stay in the air.

When we arrived, I clearly recognized one of the combatants as Piccolo. His ki was amazing, even stronger than the monster's. He had obviously fused with Kami-sama. The other fighter was the source of all the odd ki we'd felt before, and now that we were close, I could sense Tenshinhan's, Yamucha's, and even my own ki emanating from it. It looked like a giant humanoid cicada, encased in bumpy green armor and with a horrible mouth and green eyes like a cat that's just stared into a bright light. The worst part, though, was a long tail ending in a stinger - immediately, I knew that this monster had used that stinger to absorb its victims. It made me nauseated to picture human beings being sucked through that thing like a straw.

We landed next to Piccolo, who warned us about Cell. It was pretty shocking when the thing replied to him in a slimy, scratchy voice. I hadn't expected it to be capable of speech. It even addressed me by name!

I don't really remember what words were exchanged - my mind is filled with a constant image of Cell's horrible form. I do know that it didn't go on for long before Cell screamed something about 17, 18, and perfect forms and threw his hands up to his forehead. I recognized the Taiyoken and moved to protect my eyes, but he was too fast. The bright flash blinded all three of us long enough for Cell to escape.

When we could see again, not only was Cell completely out of sight, but he'd also hidden his ki so that we couldn't find him. Piccolo was extremely upset, to say the least. The force of his anger caused him to erupt in a furious ki flare. It was kind of scary. I could scarcely believe he'd become that powerful.

Vegeta quickly arrived, attempting to track the enormous power he'd felt, and then Tenshinhan. Only then did we get Piccolo's explanation of Cell.

Cell was a bio-android made by Dr. Gero. It derived its strange ki from the fact that it contained genetic material from great fighters. Apparently, after Goku destroyed the Red Ribbon Army, Gero made a tiny robot that collected DNA from fighters at all the major battles that occurred on Earth - the fight against the Saiyans, the short-lived 'fight' against Frieza, and who knows what else. Cell gained power by killing and absorbing people - lots of people. Eventually, he was to absorb 17 and 18, after which he would attain his supposedly unstoppable "perfect" form.

Cell had come from the future in Trunks' time machine to a few years previous and waited us out. As if that wasn't complicated enough, I don't think that the Cell we met came from either our timeline, or Trunks', in which he probably destroyed Cell upon his return, but from yet a third timeline.

We tried very hard to come up with some sort of a plan, a way to keep him from attaining his perfect form, but it seemed that he would just keep hiding from us and absorbing people as he liked. Vegeta, for one, had no part in planning. His unbelievable arrogance yet endured, causing him to go into hysterics and eventually state that he would surpass the cyborgs, Cell, and any foe - he would even surpass the limits of the Super Saiyan. He left us with a remark that dismissed the lot of us as worthless trash and took off violently, deliberately in such a way as to throw a blast in our faces.

I paid no attention to Vegeta. There's nothing you can do about idiots.

I brought up the fact that we should probably find the Cell of our time and go ahead and destroy it before it becomes a problem. Trunks said that that was a good idea and went with me to do just that.

We went back to the Northern Mountains where 17 and 18 had emerged from Gero's lab. Although that lab had already been destroyed by Trunks, we found an underground tunnel.

Inside was a massive computer hooked up to a stasis chamber with some kind of embryo inside it. It was only about the size of my finger, but there was no doubt that it was Cell. Trunks and I destroyed the computer, the chamber, the lab, and, to be honest, the general area with numerous ki blasts, but not before he noticed blueprints lying around for 17 and 18. Those we took: we reasoned that they might be helpful.

Trunks left me to train with his father. He spat the word "father". Poor Trunks, he had probably been very excited to meet his father when he'd come to the past.

I took the blueprints to Capsule Corporation headquarters. Bulma and her father were very impressed with them. They promised to look for some kind of weakness in their structures. I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about that, but I thanked them and went back to the Kame House. It was only about 7 PM when I got there, but I took a shower and went to sleep. I'd had enough of that day.

The next day, Pu'ar came to us - she and Yamucha were certainly glad to see each other. For the next couple of days, we sat around the house restlessly, watching the news all day and hoping for an opening to attack Cell, although even if we got one, I wasn't sure how much we'd be able to do - surely Cell would soon become so strong that not even Piccolo could do anything. The Kame House has never held more people than it did those few days - Piccolo, Tenshinhan, Gohan, Chichi, a still unconscious Goku, Yamucha, Pu'ar, and of course Roshi-sama, Oolong, Umigame and I were there. We had people sleeping on places all over the floor. Although we were all scared stiff, it was a comfort to be with basically every friend I had in the world (minus Bulma). I don't make friends so easily, so these people were really all I had.

One day the news gave us the location of Cell, and we rushed out to find him. I mean the fighters, of course - Piccolo, Tenshinhan, Gohan, Yamucha and I. We took a plane so that we'd be able to keep our kis suppressed in the hope that Cell, not being able to sense us, would still be out in the open when we arrived.

However, Goku appeared in the airplane while we were on our way. We'd been told that the medicine would take ten days to work, but that's Goku for you. He told us about a place at Kami's lookout called the Room of Spirit and Time. There, time is altered so that you can spend an entire year there while just a day passes for everyone else. He said that he was going to take Gohan with him.

I asked Goku if he was happy or scared about our powerful new opponent.

"Both," he said. He took Gohan's hand and they both disappeared.

For the first time in at least a few days, I was psyched. Goku's mere presence had made me hopeful once again.

Predictably, we were unable to find Cell. He was too smart for us. We had no choice but to go home and wait it out again. There were a lot of news reports about Cell, but we acknowledged now that he'd never let us find him. I decided to get a little sleep.

It was Piccolo who woke me up. "We have guests," he said.

Indeed, we did. 16, 17, and 18 were standing outside, rather politely asking to know where Goku was. Piccolo, of course, refused. 17 retorted that he'd have to force it out of him. Piccolo responded that he could try...

Thus, they went off to fight. Tenshinhan, Yamucha, and I stayed behind. There was nothing we could do.

It was extremely aggravating to have to just stand there and wait. We were worried for Piccolo - as strong as he'd become, it was doubtful he could win if he had to fight all three of them. The only indicator we had of what was happening was Piccolo's ki. It spiked a lot and dipped a little lower every time. At one point, an explosion destroyed the island that they were fighting on and they had to move again.

Just when we thought things were really bad, something new entered the equation: Cell. We could sense him coming. Then we really started to panic. Cell was probably so strong then, we thought, that even if Piccolo and the cyborgs fought together they probably wouldn't be able to do anything. However, it was about then that we got a call from Bulma.

She said that she'd finally managed to find a weakness in the cyborgs - a shut-off device was installed in them, and she'd made a remote control that could activate it. Once the cyborgs were shut off, they would be easy to destroy. We said that that was great, and to bring it right over. At the time, that looked like our only chance - if the cyborgs were destroyed, Cell couldn't reach his perfect form. He'd still be tough, but maybe when some of the Saiyans finished training, they'd be strong enough to defeat him.

Yeah, it looked like our only hope, all right. So, why did the thought of "destroying"  
(Killing)  
...The cyborgs put such an awful feeling in my stomach? I tried to put it out of my mind. I really did. Go for the greater good, Kuririn, I told myself.

In fact, when we sensed that Cell's ki had gotten more powerful than ever, I flew off to get the remote from Bulma myself. At least I would be doing something, rather than just sitting around. Still, it was hard to keep myself from turning around as I sensed horrible things happening. Someone was fighting Cell, but it wasn't Piccolo - Piccolo's ki had disappeared. I thought that meant that he was dead, which strengthened my resolve. The greater good. Definitely. I was going to do this.

I met Bulma's plane in the air and she gave me the remote - a black box with a red button protruding from it. I got it from her and returned as quickly as I could, but even though I was traveling at well over the speed of sound, it took me a while. It's a very long way from the Kame House to the Capsule Corporation headquarters.

When I got back, the fight was no longer anywhere near where it had started. I had to follow the ki that I sensed. As I got close, I realized that the incredibly large ki I was feeling was Vegeta's. It was even larger than Cell's, and Cell had somehow gotten a lot stronger. I think that I realized at the time that Vegeta must have been through a year's worth of training in the Room of Spirit and Time, but it was still shocking. I wished that Goku had been there first instead of Vegeta. I also spotted Trunks nearby - he had probably trained with Vegeta.

The power of Vegeta and Cell was humbling - it was about twice the level Piccolo was at after his fusion with Kami-sama. For a minute, I wondered if Cell had already attained his perfect form, but I dismissed that notion - he had become stronger, but not that strong. I may or may not have figured out that he'd absorbed just one of them, but that fact was quickly made apparent to me by sight. 18 and a badly damaged 16 were hiding nearby.

"Damn it!" I thought. "Why did it have to be 18?"

Bulma had told me that I had to get in close in order for the remote to work. Okay. I swallowed hard and landed. I snuck up on them, and did it quite well. They never noticed me. I edged closer and closer. I think that I got closer than I had to, really.

There was 18. I had a clear shot at her. She was watching Vegeta fight Cell, and she would never have noticed me in time to do anything. Once she was deactivated, I could have killed her. I was strong enough, if she couldn't defend herself. 16 looked too badly damaged to do anything about it.

I knew that it would probably be my only chance. If I didn't destroy her, she would be absorbed by Cell, and then it would all be over.

She looked afraid. She wasn't panicking; she had courage. However, I could see in her expression that she was feeling afraid, just like me. Were cyborgs supposed to be capable of emotions like that? To me, in that moment, Number 18 looked more human than ever. And no matter how I tried, I couldn't see anything evil in her. Wherever my mind tried to find such a quality, my heart cut it off brutally, scolding it for being so foolish. No, Number 18 was not evil, and that wasn't all. There was no use in denying it; I liked her. I really liked her.

"So what?" I asked myself. "That doesn't change the fact that this is the only way to save everything. If it bothers you that much, when everything's peaceful again, you can contact the Namekians and have them bring her back with the dragon balls!" But I knew, and more importantly, I felt that doing such a thing would not erase the action that felt more loathsome and terrible to me with every passing second. No matter what you have at your disposal - strength great enough to destroy worlds, time machines, stones that have the power to alter reality - the great truth that one cannot change the past always holds firm. The past is a reality, and nothing that anyone can do can alter that. The only time you can change something is when it is happening.

Staring at the hopeful, terrible little remote, I called forth one final burst of resolve. This was my great chance to save the world. I had been unable to fight, unable to do anything - I had been worthless. Now all I had to do to save everything was press a simple little button. If I couldn't do that much, then I really was worthless. I had to do it. It was for the greater good. It was the only way. It was...

Wrong, I ultimately realized. It was wrong, and I couldn't do it any more than I could massacre cities full of innocent people as Cell had done. I dropped the remote.

18 saw me then. She looked shocked.

I cast one last despondent glance at the device. I apologized to Bulma - she had worked so hard to make it. I crushed the remote with my foot.

"Run," I said to 18. "Don't let Cell absorb you."

"Why did you destroy that shut-off controller?" she said. I could find no words to answer.

The next thing I knew, I heard a shout and I saw Cell coming straight toward us at alarming speed. There was still one hope, in the form of a heavily muscled Super Saiyan called Trunks, who was flying after Cell with all of his might, doing all he could to stop him from reaching 18. It looked like he would get to Cell in time. Then, however, a horrible thing happened that would replay endlessly in my head for days: Vegeta kicked Trunks out of the way.

Cell landed near us and smiled. "Vegeta's helping me to reach his perfect form," he said.

I cursed Vegeta with every obscenity my vocabulary allowed. This was not the time for his macho stupidity. He had doomed us all; at least I felt vindicated of any guilt I'd had about not using the remote. If everything went to hell, the universe had Vegeta, not me, to blame.

Cell used the Taiyoken and began to absorb 18. I couldn't see anything, but I knew that he was doing it. I sensed some kind of very slight ki disturbance that let me know exactly what was happening, but I didn't know whose ki I was feeling. It wasn't Cell's.

I painfully wrenched my eyes open in time to see the last of 18 go into Cell. He didn't absorb her as he had all of the humans he killed; his tail opened to swallow her. The sight was far more painful to me than the blinding light of the Taiyoken. Cell transformed. His perfect form looked more human, kind of like a man wearing insect-like armor.

I can't express what I felt then in words. It transcended anger; it surpassed even the limits of what we might call rage. My senses were blotted out; all I saw was Cell, engulfed in seething waves of my hatred for him, and all I could think was, "How dare he?"

(Forgive my melodrama; I was really pissed off, ok?)

Without thinking, I threw myself at him, putting all I had and probably a good deal more into a punch. It connected solidly with his head. That punch would probably have seriously hurt even Frieza, I don't mind saying. Of course, it had no discernible effect on Perfect Cell.

I couldn't believe it; no one could be that powerful. I tried a few kicks just to be sure. Cell took them calmly, and then kicked me. He must have broken my neck. I woke up a few hundred yards away after being force-fed a senzu by Trunks.

"Are you okay?" he said.

"This is bad," I said. Weak compared to Cell though I was, I knew how to sense an opponent's strength, and I knew that Vegeta had made a pretty severe miscalculation. If they fought, Cell was going to annihilate him.

--END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX--


	27. The Waiting

~Chapter 27: The Waiting~

It's strange to look at Trunks now. He looks so much like the future Trunks did when he first came back in time. I guess that Trunks must have grown up in the shadow of that resemblance. However, they really aren't the same person, even though they technically are. Our time's Trunks is a good man, but he's very different from our savior from the future. That Trunks we can only remember.

I remember waking up at his feet after being hit by Perfect Cell. Of course, the hit I'd taken was nothing to Cell, but in those few moments of close proximity to him, I'd sensed his power, and I knew that the ki that Cell was showing was just a mask to disguise his horrible true power. Upon waking up, though, I was alarmed to discover that the same was true for Trunks - the power he was showing was just a ruse, he was really a lot more powerful. But why would he hide it?

I wasted no time in exposing Trunks; he admitted that he had reached a new level. He said that the form that he and Vegeta were in was beyond the limits of the Super Saiyan, but that he had overcome even that form's limits.

"So what are you waiting for?" I said. "Power up and kill Cell!"

"Vegeta can't know," said Trunks.

"What?"

"He's too prideful. He can't know that I'm stronger than he is," said Trunks. I was amazed. The kid was still trying to do right by his father.

Vegeta and Cell had begun to fight. Cell looked as if he were barely trying.

"Damn you!" shouted Vegeta. "Quit messing with me!"

Vegeta kicked Cell in the face. It had about as much impact as my punch.

"Trunks..." I cautioned.

Trunks appeared to be in physical pain. "Dad would rather die than be helped," he said, "That's just the way he is."

Cell promptly began to beat the crap out of Vegeta; this seemed to make Trunks very angry. I decided that if Trunks wouldn't make a move just to defeat Cell, maybe I could play on how much he obviously cared for his father.

"Vegeta's going to get killed, Trunks," I told him. "If you don't help him, then he will die."

Trunks faltered. "I'll... help him after he's knocked out," he said. I sighed. Trunks was almost as stubborn as Vegeta himself.

Speaking of Vegeta, it was about then that he started to set up his big attack. He prepared an enormous ki blast and dared Cell not to dodge it. Trunks and I got the hell out of the way. I became very frightened as I realized that the blast Vegeta was preparing would destroy the Earth, and that was the direction that he was aiming it in. Cell seemed to accept Vegeta's challenge.

Vegeta's attack was a bright burst of ki that was very powerful. However, at the last moment Vegeta narrowed the attack's scope to just hit Cell and mess up a bit of the terrain behind him. I'd forgotten just how clever Vegeta was. His attack destroyed Cell's right arm and most of his chest.

We couldn't believe it: Vegeta had actually done it! He'd defeated Cell! You just couldn't underestimate that Saiyan. Vegeta was so proud of his victory that he began to laugh out loud.

He didn't laugh for very long.

Cell regenerated his wound. We'd forgotten that since he had Piccolo's DNA, he could regenerate wounds like the Namekians. Vegeta threw everything he had at Cell, but it had no further effect. Cell beat Vegeta without much effort. Within a few blows, Vegeta was unconscious and no longer a Super Saiyan.

"Well, Trunks," I said, "Now's your chance."

"Hai."

Trunks screamed. His already ridiculous Super Saiyan hair broke out of any remaining restraint and stood straight out in all directions. His muscles were drastically augmented to the point of absurdity, and he was surrounded by a crackling ki field that made it impossible for me to even approach him. What was most noticeable to me, though, was the fact that his ki shot up more quickly than anything I'd felt before. When he was done, his ki was even huger than Cell's - I'd known that he was hiding more power, but how could I have guessed that it would be that much? It was frightening, to tell the truth. How strong could a Saiyan get?

Trunks told me to take Vegeta away. He seemed very sure that he would beat Cell. It took me a moment to snap out of my fear and awe, but I told him that that would be fine. Once I'd gotten my head again, I was glad that Trunks had become so strong. Better he than Vegeta.

While Trunks and Cell fought, I picked up Vegeta's limp body and took him away to a place that looked safe. I still had a couple of senzu, but I didn't give Vegeta any yet. He didn't look like he was dying, and there was no telling what he'd do when he awoke. Almost immediately after I landed, though, I felt Trunks' ki sink like a rock. Cell's ki wasn't doing a thing. I panicked and fed Vegeta the senzu. We flew back to where we'd left Trunks and Cell immediately.

When we got there, Cell was gone. There was only Trunks, back in normal form, standing there looking totally despondent.

"Trunks!" I shouted. "You're all right!"

He didn't look up. "There's going to be a martial arts competition," he said.

He explained to us what had happened. His new form had been powerful, but his augmented muscles had made him too slow.

"I could have told you that, idiot," snorted Vegeta. I guess that Trunks had also underestimated Vegeta.

According to Trunks, Cell had noted how much stronger they had become in such a short time and offered them more time to get even stronger. In ten days, Cell was going to hold a martial arts tournament in which he would be the only opponent. I couldn't believe my ears - a martial arts tournament! It was then that it really set in that Cell definitely was made from our genetic material. It sounded just like something that Goku or even Vegeta would do.

Not surprisingly, Vegeta and Trunks expressed intentions to return to the Room of Spirit and Time for another day. What was surprising was that, at that moment, Number 16 limped up to us.

"Take me and get me fixed," he said, "I'll probably come in handy."

Trunks spat at him. "Don't be stupid!" he said. "You're one of Gero's creations! We should destroy you!"

"No," I said.

Trunks was incredulous. "Kuririn!"

"It's okay," I told him. I could tell that 16 was not bad. He wasn't as human or as pretty to look at as 17 or 18, but he had a good soul. I was even bold enough to tell Trunks that 17 and 18 weren't evil either - they must have been different from the ones in his time. Trunks and Vegeta fumed at me, but they let me pick up Number 16 (Which wasn't exactly easy - his weight didn't bother me, but he was almost twice my height) and carry him off.

I took 16 to the Capsule Corporation Headquarters. The security there was somewhat alarmed to see me approach carrying 16, but they didn't stop me. They probably realized that they couldn't.

I asked the front desk for Bulma.

"Who are you?" they said.

"I'm Kuririn, and I don't have time for this. Hurry up!"

"I'm sorry," stammered the man I was talking to, "But Miss Briefs left over an hour ago..."

Just then, Bulma's father, the inventor of the Hoi-poi Capsule, came out into the room.

"Oh, hello there," he said cheerfully, "Kuririn, right? What's that you've got there?"

I was taken a little aback by Dr. Briefs' prominence in combination with his odd manner, as I usually am. "Um, it's an android, sir."

"Looks like it needs fixing, huh?"

"I'd appreciate it if you could help me," said 16. "I can't function for much longer in this state."

Dr. Briefs was visibly startled by 16's speech. "Oh, sure... sure!" he said. "Right this way."

He led us into a sort of workshop and motioned at a table, where I set 16 down. Dr. Briefs said that he'd have to deactivate him in order to work. 16 helpfully deactivated himself.

"I'll probably have to study it for a few hours before I can do anything," said Dr. Briefs. "Very intricate craftsmanship, this stuff - it's too bad Gero couldn't have used his genius for something good. I wonder if he has a bomb in him, like 17 and 18."

He kept saying more stuff, but he'd hit a nerve with me on that point. "17 and 18 had bombs inside of them?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," he said. "It was right there in the plans. If we find a bomb in this one, we might have to take it out... it can't be a good thing to be walking around with a bomb in you like that."

I nodded, still reeling. What a terrible thing, to have a bomb inside of you.

I watched him work for several minutes before Bulma arrived. She came in running, and shouted her father's name, followed by mine, followed by "What's THAT?"

I explained 16 to Bulma. I started to explain what had happened with Cell, but she already knew.

"What happened to the remote?" she said. I began to feel sick. It wasn't that I regretted my choice, but I didn't relish having to face its consequences, and Bulma's reaction was, in my view, probably the foremost of those.

"I destroyed the remote," I said.

"Why the hell did you do that?"

I winced. "I understand why you're angry, Bulma, but I couldn't kill the cyborg. She wasn't evil, and it's wrong to kill innocent people."

Bulma frowned furiously at me.

"I'm sorry," I said, and cast my head down, ready to receive my punishment. Probably she would never want to speak to me again; at any rate, she would stop helping Muten Roshi and me out with money - but I haven't mentioned that yet.

After several seconds, Bulma sighed. "You're a good person, Kuririn," she said.

I blinked. That was hardly the reaction I'd anticipated.

"Dad and I will do all we can. You should probably go back home. I bet they're worried about you there."

My mouth would not form words. "I- I... Right. Right!" I shook her hand enthusiastically. "Thank you, Bulma!"

She smiled faintly. "Sure... don't mention it..."

I returned to the Kame House, and everyone was happy to see me and to receive my explanations. I got some bewildered frowns about the remote, but I was quickly forgiven as I proceeded to tell what Vegeta had done. Yamucha and Chichi were still there, so the sleeping arrangements were still a bit unusual that night. Personally, I didn't get a lot of sleep. I was worried about Cell, and I couldn't stop thinking about 18. She was inside of that monster... Was there any way to get her out? Was she gone forever now? As I thought about this, I bit my fist to keep from crying and turned on the TV to try and keep myself distracted. I watched it the most of the night through before finally falling asleep.

When I woke up, the news was on. Yamucha was asleep a few feet away, so I treaded carefully as I fixed myself some early breakfast. I was sitting in front of the TV again when another famous moment occurred - Cell appeared on the set and killed the anchor!

I got everyone and we watched Cell's terrible announcement. He said that he was the monster that had killed all of the people who had been disappearing and announced the Cell Game, to take place in nine days.

"Unlike the Tenka'ichi Budokai," said Cell, "I will be the only opponent. Send lots of fighters against me, and you may just win through sheer numbers. However, if I defeat all the fighters, then I will kill everyone on Earth."

Cell underscored his point with a ki blast and flew away.

There was nothing to say. Cell was so terrible, and there didn't seem to be any hope. I tried to have faith in Goku, but I wasn't sure that even he would be able to do anything against Cell. The future of the Earth looked very dark. I'm sure that everyone who's old enough remembers the ensuing days... the panic, the demand for action. As for me, I just hung around the Kame House all day. It practically killed me to do so, but there was nothing I could do.

The day after Cell's announcement, Goku and Gohan came to the Kame House. They were both Super Saiyans. It didn't really surprise me that Gohan had achieved that state in the Room of Spirit and Time. That kid had potential that just had no parallel.

I asked them if they'd heard about Cell. "Yes," said Gohan, "It's terrible..."

"It'll work out," said Goku. I was stunned by his confidence. It wasn't like Goku at all to underestimate an opponent. His ki had increased to an amazing level, but it still didn't seem like enough to beat Cell... They picked up Chichi and left us again.

The next day was one of the worst. The King's royal military launched an unannounced attack on Cell. We saw it on television. The whole force of the army and the air force came down upon Cell, and it was impressive, but I never had any hope for that effort. The attack was powerful, maybe even powerful enough to harm Piccolo, but not Trunks or Vegeta, and certainly not Cell. Cell killed them all. It was terrible to watch, and it filled me with anger, both at Cell and at my own powerlessness.

There was an announcement after that by the poor King. He took responsibility for what had just happened, and tried to inspire the people with the hope of the possible arrival of a savior. He even mentioned Goku - not by name, but as "the boy who saved the world from the Demon King Piccolo". How many people had already forgotten about that!

Yamucha looked pale all the way through the King's announcement. When it was over, he moved to the window and began staring outside. After a couple of minutes, Pu'ar and I went up to him.

"How are you holding up, Yamucha?" I said. "Damn that Cell..."

He nodded, but didn't really look at me.

"Are you feeling okay, Yamucha-sama?" asked Pu'ar.

"I'll never fight again," he said.

That comment was certainly unexpected. I asked him what he was talking about.

"I don't want you to think I'm a coward or anything, but I can't do it anymore. It's all too far beyond me. I can't do anything but get in the way anymore..."

I was stunned. I had never expected this from Yamucha. We were supposed to be in this together. I started to get a little angry. I'd had the same concerns, but I wasn't quitting.

"I'm-I'm glad, Yamucha," said Pu'ar.

"What?" I said.

They both looked at me questioningly.

"I mean..." I struggled with my words. "I mean, I'm way weaker than everyone else too, but..."

"Kuririn, even you're on a level that I can't touch. I can't even keep up with you when you fly."

I felt the blood drain out of my face. I promptly turned and walked in the opposite direction.

I couldn't believe that Yamucha had done that - separated us! It wasn't right. We were both humans, he had always been one of my closest friends - we were supposed to be in this together! It was like a silent pact that had been made those months when he was training under Muten Roshi, when we sat in the evenings and ridiculed the rest of the world.

However, I alternated between being angry and confused and being guilty. How could I blame Yamucha for not wanting to fight anymore, when we had enemies as terrible as Cell? What's more, I scolded myself, I had noted that we had passed Yamucha up in training - I had even felt relief when he left the battle with the androids. Why was I upset with him now? I didn't lose my anger; it just lost its direction. I spent most of it hating Cell - he was a good target.

Yamucha came to me several minutes later and apologized for what he'd said. I told him that it was okay - that no one would think any less of him if he gave up fighting. I meant it, too. I felt a little ashamed of myself for being angry with him before, and I even questioned my own status as an active fighter, but I decided that I would keep trying until it really became impossible for me to do anything. Still, I sympathized with Yamucha, and within minutes, we'd resumed our friendship as before. Pu'ar, anyway, was very happy to hear that Yamucha didn't want to fight anymore. She was worried sick every time he went out to battle, she said.

Within a couple of hours, the savior that the King had told the world to hope for appeared to have already surfaced. The television broadcast trumpeted the idiot champion of the 24th Budokai, Mr. Satan, as the hero who would save the world. He claimed that he would "make mincemeat" out of Cell, and the world bought it. We sighed at his antics at the Kame House. It wasn't nice of him to give the people false hope like that. The weird part is that he actually believed that he was going to beat Cell. I mean, could anybody really be that stupid?

I turned the television off after that. They wouldn't stop talking about Mr. Satan.

Almost immediately after that, Goku knocked on the door of the Kame House - it was nice of him to knock, when his habit had been simply appearing in the foyer. He was still a Super Saiyan; I think that he was trying to get used to that form so he'd be able to use it better when fighting Cell.

"Hi, Yamucha... Roshi-sama... everybody," said Goku. "Kuririn, I need you to come with me."

Goku told me that he was going to take me to see "the new Kami". I didn't quite know what he was talking about.

Gohan (also still a Super Saiyan) was waiting for us outside. Goku put his arm around both of us and put the first two fingers of his other hand to his forehead. Suddenly, we were at Kami's lookout. I had expected there to be some kind of intermediary dimension, but we just went straight from one location to another. I'll never figure out how that Shukdan Idou works.

We were shocked and elated to find that the new Kami was no other than Dende. He was really happy to see us, too; he'd specifically requested to see Gohan and I. I could scarcely believe that the little Namekian that Gohan and I had saved on Namek was going to be Earth's new God - what a strange universe. I was happy, though. I knew that he would do a good job, and it was cool to see Dende again.

Someone asked Dende if he could make dragon balls. I guess that was inevitable - it was probably the reason he'd been brought there.

"I can probably make some dragon balls in 100 days," replied Dende cheerfully.

Well, obviously we didn't have 100 days. There was a lot of complicated discussion about the dragon balls - how many wishes they'd have, what they'd be able to do. Dende did come up with the solution of using the rocks that used to be Earth's dragon balls to make new ones right away.

Mr. Popo brought a case with a little model of Shenlon in it to Dende. He put his hands above it for a couple of seconds, not doing anything that we could see. However, a powerful light like a ki blast emerged from the case and split in seven different directions, going all over the Earth. It was a very impressive sight.

"Okay," said Dende. "I think that should do it."

I was astounded by Dende's power. I guess that it was then that I finally realized what I should have known all along - ki is more than just a weapon. Just because Dende is not a fighter doesn't make him weak in ki. He uses his power to create and to heal. When I think about it, he's the best of us in that way - it takes so much more talent and effort to create than it does to destroy.

Goku left to gather the renewed dragon balls. We didn't see him again until the day of the Cell game. He looked and spoke as if he was very confident. The rest of us couldn't figure it out. Goku had said that he didn't think he was strong enough to beat Cell. That had to mean that he had some sort of plan... right?

I went back to the Kame House and brought everyone up to date, and then I returned to Kami's-well, Dende's lookout. I spent the rest of the time until the Cell games there. Staying overnight at the lookout was not a new experience for me. After all, I'd stayed there for almost six months while training to fight the Saiyans.

Mr. Popo, Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks, and Dende were there at the lookout with me. Vegeta was still training in the Room of Spirit and Time - still too stubborn to accept not being able to defeat Cell himself. Piccolo had also trained in the Room, but although he'd gotten a lot stronger, he was still nowhere near a level where he would be useful against Cell. Piccolo had no delusions - he pointed out this fact himself.

I had the opportunity to train in the Room of Spirit and Time. Seriously, when Vegeta finally gave up on it, Gohan asked me if I wanted to go in. I declined. I didn't like the idea of spending a year inside of a place where there's nothing to do but train and the gravity is higher than normal. Nor did I like the idea of aging a year while a day passed outside. I guess I could have gone in with Tenshinhan - that wouldn't have been so bad. It wouldn't really have done much good, though. I think that both Tenshinhan and I have hit our limits by now, and still neither of us is strong enough to equal even the cyborgs in skill. I doubt if we could have become any stronger than we are now, unless we discovered some kind of "Super Human" transformation. In my dreams, right? Even if we had, it'd probably be only about half as powerful as Perfect Cell. That sounds like my luck.

The time passed quickly. I didn't worry too much. I chatted with Gohan and Dende. I tried not to think about Cell, and about 18 being inside of him.

The 26th of May 767 AD arrived with alarming speed. Of course, that was the day of the Cell Game.

--END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN--


	28. The Cell Game

~Chapter 28: The Cell Game~  
  
At about 10 AM on the day of the Cell game, we sat around the lookout waiting for Goku.  
  
Piccolo was talking. He was trying to make plans for what we would do afterward if we won the Cell Game, depending on who had died.  
  
"It's really a good thing we've got a new set of dragon balls," I said. "I mean, I'd already been revived with the last set, and Goku too."  
  
"Oh no!" said Dende.  
  
All eyes were on the small Namekian. "What is it, Dende?" said Gohan.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he kept mumbling.  
  
Dende told us that the dragon balls he had made had the limitation of only being able to revive a person once, like Kami's. Worse, since he'd made them with the rocks of the old ones, everyone who'd been revived with that set - Muten Roshi, Chaozu, Bora, Goku, and I - could not be revived. Dende could have made them without that limitation, but then we would've gotten only one wish. He was sorry. We should have warned him.  
  
I asked him if he could change them. No, he couldn't. He could still make a new set, but there was no telling how long that'd take - probably even longer than a hundred days, since he'd just expended a lot of energy. That wouldn't do any good, though - dragon balls couldn't revive anyone killed before the balls themselves had been created.  
  
"Oh..." I said, and I sat down. I felt like crap. My heart raised itself into my throat.  
  
"You don't have to come, Kuririn," said Piccolo. "I doubt you'll fight anyway, so if you're worried about dying, you can stay up here with Dende."  
  
I considered that. It made sense, but it seemed so cowardly - I don't know why. I told them that I would come anyway. I had to support Goku, I said. After all, he couldn't be revived either, and he had as much chance of dying as I did.  
  
Hence, when Goku did arrive at the lookout, the mood wasn't exactly cheerful. Goku himself was, however - the picture of happy-go-lucky if I'd ever seen it. It didn't make any sense - there was no reason for him to be that confident. We weren't even sure that he was stronger than Cell.  
  
I told him about the dragon balls, but the news failed to make a dent in his demeanor.   
  
"We just have to not die, right? It's no big deal."  
  
I glared at him. Had Goku lost his sanity?  
  
Turning to everyone else, he said, "It'd probably be more impressive if we brought everyone. Hold on."  
  
He put two fingers to his forehead, disappeared, and reappeared shortly after with Tenshinhan. He repeated the process, this time returning with Yamucha.  
  
"Yamucha," I said, "Are you--"  
  
He looked at the floor. "I'm only going to watch."  
  
So, the seven of us, leaving Dende, left for Cell's arena. We got there a few minutes before noon. Cell was still standing in the middle of his arena. Vegeta was already there. Number 16 was there, as was - groan with me, please - Mr. Satan.  
  
A total of ten contestants showed up for Cell's game - I was a little surprised that no one else had come, but relieved. The less people involved in this, the better. Of course, just three of those ten would end up actually fighting Cell. Television viewers may have recognized me from the Budokai, and Yamucha from his baseball career. I doubt that anyone recognized Goku, with his bright yellow Super Saiyan hair and blue eyes. If anyone recognized Piccolo, they probably panicked.  
  
Number 16 came up to me after we landed. The red ribbon crest on his armor had been replaced with the Capsule Corp logo.   
  
"I wanted to thank you, Kuririn," he said. "It's because of you that I've been fixed."  
  
I was happy to hear that. I smiled at 16. He was definitely good. I had no doubt at all.  
  
Goku offered a friendly handshake to 16, but he didn't take it. He said something about having been created to kill him. I guess that it's difficult to overcome programming like that.  
  
"Well," said Goku, "I guess I'll go first, huh?"  
  
I was surprised that Goku wanted to go first, but I concluded that he probably didn't want anyone else to get hurt. Everyone agreed to let Goku go first. Well, almost everyone.  
  
Mr. Satan, with his ludicrous cape and champion wrestler's belt, yelled something at us. A reporter from television that was accompanying him came over and shouted in our faces. He asked us if we were making some kind of joke.  
  
"I thought that even the most ignorant hick in the world had heard of the Great Mr. Satan! He's the strongest warrior in the world! He's a genius!" It made me sick to my stomach to hear the man's sycophantic dribbling. I'd never seen such unjustified arrogance. Mr. Satan looked onto the reporter's spectacle with approval.  
  
I eventually convinced Goku to let Mr. Satan to go first. It was obvious that he wasn't going to stop making a fuss until we did. Moreover, I have to admit I was kind of looking forward to seeing him be trounced by Cell.  
  
I honestly have no idea what was going through Mr. Satan's head. At first, I thought he might have had some plan, but the moment he brought out a stack of roof tiles to demonstrate his awesome strength, I realized that he was just an idiot to the core. I don't think I need to say that his attacks had no effect on Cell. It was mean of him to have the world place their hopes on him like that. I shudder when I think how many people must have given up hope when he was knocked out of the ring by Cell with a single backhand. Somehow, though, Mr. Satan survived Cell's little tap and was gearing up to fight again. I slapped my forehead - didn't this guy EVER get it? I think Vegeta put it best - Mr. Satan was "The World Champion of Morons".  
  
Of course, when Goku stepped into the ring we knew that the real fight had begun. The tension was very heavy. Goku looked as confident as ever as he faced off against Cell.   
  
Well, Goku, I thought, here's your chance. Show us why you're so confident. I prayed that it all wasn't some sort of colossal bluff designed to give us some measure of hope in the days leading up to the Cell Game.  
  
I looked around. Almost everyone looked as nervous as me, even Piccolo. I sensed everyone's ki, and even accounting for the Super Saiyan transformation I knew that no one else was strong enough to give Cell a good fight - this was it, for better or for worse. Of course, in retrospect I can see that I didn't feel Gohan's ki very carefully...  
  
The fight started out at a level that wasn't really so spectacular. It was far beyond me, but I knew that for them it was just a warm-up. Of course, it must have been enough to wake up Mr. Satan. I don't care how thick-headed you are, when everyone starts flying around at amazing speed and launching blasts of energy, you have to have second thoughts.  
  
When they faced off again, I remember Goku's expression changing. He now looked the picture of seriousness. What did that mean? I don't know. I felt so helpless that it almost seemed I wasn't really there, that I had transcended my body and was watching from the clouds.  
  
Both fighters powered up, releasing tremendous energy. I was barely strong enough to hold my ground against the shockwaves. Their ki flares were bright and enormous. When they engaged, Goku beat Cell around a bit, but it was obvious from watching Cell that he wasn't really trying. Still, their speed was incredible. I almost couldn't follow it.  
  
Cell smiled. "Ka... Me..."  
  
I panicked, brought down to Earth again. What in the Hell did he think he was doing? A Kamehameha at that power level would destroy the whole world!  
  
"Ha... Me..."  
  
Goku panicked as well. "Stop it, Cell," he screamed. "Stop it!"  
  
"Ha!"  
  
I closed my eyes and held up my arms in a futile block. I was knocked away several feet by the force of the blast. When I could see again, however, Goku and Cell were standing on the arena, same as before. As far as I could pick up from their conversation, Goku had jumped into the air to get Cell to aim away from the Earth and used Instant Transmission to escape the blast. We all breathed a massive sigh of relief. I was sweating through my clothes. I felt as if someone had put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger, then laughed and said, "It wasn't loaded, man. You should have SEEN your face."  
  
Goku and Cell began to fight again, and both looked serious. However, it became apparent all too quickly who it was that had the advantage. They were both insanely fast - I couldn't believe how fast they were! - but Cell was definitely faster. And stronger. While most of Goku's blows struck air, Cell's hit Goku hard. Goku just couldn't keep up. My resolve sank. It was looking more and more like we had no shot at this. Yet, I couldn't help but wonder - if Goku was so much weaker than Cell, why had he been so confident? Had he underestimated Cell? Put too much stock in his own abilities? Neither of those things sounded like Goku. Something was wrong.  
  
I guess I should have seen what happened next coming. Cell destroyed the arena. I never really expected this battle to remain that farce of a martial arts tournament.  
  
Moving away from the smoking crater where the arena had been, the fighters made use of their new expanse of terrain. Cell threw numerous ki blasts down at Goku, missing him but pummeling the poor Earth. Then Goku flew up above Cell and began to charge up a Kamehameha.  
  
"Wait a minute," I said. "There's no way..."  
  
It was the same situation as before. If Goku fired a Kamehameha at that level, it'd destroy the world. He was wrong if he thought Cell would dodge like he did. Cell planted his feet and held his ground.   
  
Goku continued to charge up. I smiled, knowing it was a bluff. Goku obviously had some plan. There was no way that Goku was going to destroy the Earth.  
  
I cast a glance at the crazy look on Goku's face.   
  
Was there?  
  
For a moment, I felt a little dizzy.  
  
Of course, Goku did not destroy the Earth. He used the Instant Transmission again to appear right next to Cell and direct the Kamehameha at him. I cheered. I'd known all along that Goku had a plan, I told myself. I'd been sure...  
  
The blast had blown off most of the upper half of Cell's body. Yamucha, for one, cheered aloud that we'd won, but I knew better. I wasn't sure if Goku knew about Cell's regenerative powers. "Tell him," I told myself lamely, but my lips would not budge.  
  
Too late, I finally shouted, "Look out, Goku! Cell can regenerate!"  
  
Sure enough, Cell's husk stood up and grew back. I will never get used to seeing things do that. Never. I'm breaking a cold sweat just thinking about it. Brr.  
  
The fight resumed hotter than ever. It was still on TV at this point, but you couldn't catch most of the action. Goku pushed himself harder and harder, finally hurting Cell so badly that he put up a massive barrier. This, even the television viewers saw.  
  
Things still looked hopeless. Goku'd had the upper hand for a moment, but now he was gasping for air, and Cell was barely fazed. Cell and Trunks urged me to give Goku a senzu, but it didn't seem like the right thing to do. Even if Goku was back at full power, I didn't think Goku could handle even the weakened Cell. What was there to do?  
  
Goku looked up at Cell defiantly.  
  
"I give up," he said.  
  
Everything froze.  
  
"You're too strong for me," said Goku. "I surrender."  
  
There was a general clamor to the effect of "What the hell?" What did Goku mean? He couldn't just give up.  
  
Cell very gravely informed Goku that if there were no fighters left to challenge Cell, then everyone on Earth was going to die.  
  
"But there is one more person to fight you," said Goku. "I'm pretty sure he can beat you."  
  
Goku turned around and scanned over every one of us. I had no idea who he was talking about. What was he trying to pull?   
  
Finally, Goku exclaimed, "It's your turn... Gohan!"  
  
Everyone stared at Gohan. He looked extremely uncomfortable. Piccolo went into hysterics.   
  
Goku came over to us very calmly and said that Gohan was stronger than we'd ever imagined. That some of his hidden power had finally been brought out. To prove his point, he asked Gohan if, at any time during the battle, he thought that it looked too hard for him.  
  
Gohan admitted that he never had, and even said that he thought Goku had been holding back. It was unbelievable, but at the same time, it felt so obvious. Gohan always had been capable of amazing things...  
  
Gohan faced off against Cell. He did look and feel stronger than ever, and it was something of a relief. Maybe we still had a shot at this. At the same time, though, I felt sad. Gohan had never liked fighting, and he was just a kid. I loved Gohan, and it didn't seem fair to me for all of this pressure to fall upon him. But there's no fairness in war, is there? You just do what you can.  
  
Things seemed to be going pretty well, until a mistake was made. It happened before Gohan and Cell even started fighting.  
  
When Goku asked me for a senzu, I wasn't quite sure why he wanted it. He wasn't fighting anymore, and Gohan was still fresh. Yet, I gave it to him. I didn't see any reason to question Goku.  
  
"Hey, Cell!" said Goku. A fire alarm went off inside my head.  
  
He threw the senzu to Cell.   
  
I was furious! Never in my life had I felt so maligned, so betrayed. My fists shook as I watched that cocky Cell chew his senzu. "Goku, you moron," I thought. "You've doomed us all."  
  
When asked, in very explicit language, what he was thinking, Goku only said that he wanted it to be a fair fight.  
  
A fair fight? Can I possibly convey to you how exasperated I felt to hear that? This was not the time for fair. This was the time for do whatever the hell we can to stop that maniac, fair or not. I gave Goku a dark look.  
  
"Don't try to blame me for what happens," I said. Goku just smiled.  
  
Gohan powered up. His power was phenomenal. It made my head hurt.   
  
As they fought, I could see that Goku had been right about at least one thing - Gohan was faring better against Cell than his father ever had been. He could more than keep up with him. Cell eventually got the better of him for a moment and knocked him into a cliff wall. Cell was already gloating over his victory.   
  
Gohan said something to Cell. He spoke quietly, so I didn't catch it. I did hear Cell's shouted reply, though - "What? You don't want to fight me?"  
  
I felt a small tear at my heart that spread to engulf me with a warm ache. Gohan-kun, you were ahead of your time.  
  
Gohan told Cell why he thought Goku had counted on him. Ever since he was a kid, whenever he got so angry that he lost control he had more power than he knew...  
  
"Oh, no", I thought. Gohan didn't know what he was doing. People like Cell always react the same horrible, predictable way to a challenge like that.  
  
Cell didn't disappoint. "You've made me want to piss you off just to see if you're telling the truth."  
  
Cell began to beat up Gohan. With every blow, my fists and my teeth clenched tighter. I didn't know about Gohan, but I was certainly angry. I wished a thousand times, pleaded for the power to help him. I received no response. Gohan, for his part, fought back a little, but not enough. Cell soon had Gohan in a powerful hold and was slowly crushing him.  
  
"Well?" shouted Cell. "Aren't you angry yet?"  
  
Man, that Cell pissed me off. I was surprised, though, to hear a calm and quiet statement from Goku several feet away.  
  
"We just have to wait until Gohan gets angry," he said. "Then he'll have the strength to beat Cell. I know he will."  
  
I looked at him in disbelief. His own son was having his bones crushed, and he still wasn't upset? Was still playing his bluff? I nearly lost it. Piccolo saved me the trouble.  
  
"Goku, you are wrong," he said. "Gohan doesn't like to fight like you."  
  
Goku looked shocked.  
  
"Do you know what Gohan is thinking right now?" shouted the Namekian. "He isn't thinking about getting angry or overcoming Cell! He's thinking, 'Why isn't my father coming to rescue me from pain and death?'"  
  
Goku looked nervously down at Cell and Gohan. Gohan was really having a rough time. It didn't look like he could survive much more.   
  
More quietly, Piccolo continued, "He's thinking that his father values a fair, manly fight more than his own life."   
  
I looked at Goku. Waited. He kept staring at his son.  
  
Finally, something turned over in Goku's mind. He realized something important. For a second, he looked panicked, then determined.  
  
"Kuririn!" he yelled. "Give me a senzu!"  
  
Yes! Yes! I rejoiced. This was more like it. THIS was our Goku!  
  
But it was too late. Before I could give Goku the senzu, Cell appeared in front of me and stole them. Gohan tried to attack, but Cell only kicked him out of the way. It was a nightmare.   
  
It was then that Number 16 made his last move. He flew to Cell and gripped him.  
  
"I'm sorry, everyone!" said 16. "This will kill all of us, but it's my only choice! I have a powerful bomb inside of me... I'm going to self destruct along with Cell!"  
  
I wilted. Remembered what Dr. Briefs had told me. Everyone else was in suspense, but not me. I knew what was going to happen - nothing. Bulma and her father had removed the bomb.  
  
Cell tore 16 apart with a ki blast. I snapped my head away, shut my eyes. It wasn't fair... Poor 16. He'd beaten all of the odds and become a good person, only to be senselessly slaughtered.  
  
I didn't have any time to cry for Number 16's unfortunate loss, though. Events quickly turned in such a way that I was no longer just an observer. Cell eerily counted us and then released these... inexplicable little mini-Cells. He called them "Cell Juniors". Actually, they looked kind of like a cross between Cell and me. They were a bit shorter than I was.  
  
They were so powerful! I couldn't believe their power. How was Cell able to produce such beings? One of them faced off against each of us. I tried so hard to fight, but it was too fast and too strong for me. I felt angry with myself for being so weak, but a quick glance showed that Piccolo and even Goku, weakened by his fight against Cell, couldn't do anything against them either. Only Vegeta and Trunks could really fight them.  
  
I tried to prepare a Kienzan, but there was no time. The damn little thing hit me and kicked me until I couldn't see, and then threw me against a wall. I lost consciousness. I woke up after being fed a senzu by Trunks. By that time, all of the Cell Juniors were dead, but it seems to me a great injustice to have this gap in the story. I know it's cheating, but why don't you just read Gohan's account. He dictated the following to me.  
  
---  
  
It hurt me very deeply to see all of my friends being beaten up like that, but I still couldn't release my power as I was supposed to. I certainly felt angry enough, but I was still held back... by something. Was I afraid that I would replace my father? That I would lose control of myself? Kami, I don't remember. I was eleven years old. I just remember that it hurt a lot, and I wanted to get angry, to do anything to stop it...  
  
No, I'm fine, Kuririn. I just needed to catch my breath. The next thing I knew, the head of the artificial human called Number 16 landed next to me. Mr. Satan had thrown it - he had some bravery, at least. It seemed strange to have that disembodied head talking to me, but it had something important to say. It... 16 told me that I could fight, that it wasn't a sin to fight for righteousness. But it was what he said last that really got to me. I remember exactly what it was... "Protect the nature and animals that I loved". Who would have thought... I wanted to pick up that android, tell it that it was going to be okay, but he seemed almost happy.   
  
Then Cell stepped on him. He crushed him like an insect, and I just lost it. I became so angry that I transformed into the Super Sayian 2. Actually, I became filled with such anger and black, ugly hatred that it left a mark on me. (He places a fist over his heart).   
  
...No, I'm fine. Really. (He smiles brightly) That was a long time ago. I hope that I've helped you with your book, Kuririn-san.  
  
---  
  
I'm sorry, I know that this is supposed to be my story, but I just thought when he told me that that it was more meaningful than anything I could have written.   
  
When I got up, one glance at Gohan confirmed that he'd transformed. We wouldn't get around to calling what he'd achieved 'Super Saiyan Level 2' for a while.  
  
Cell also powered up. I'd had no idea that all this time, Cell had still been hiding so much power. It felt like just his power was going to destroy the world. To Gohan, however, it seemed to be nothing. He fought Cell effortlessly, and I realized something alarming about Gohan's power level - I couldn't sense it. It had finally happened, someone had gotten so far above me that I couldn't tell just how far. I had no reference point anymore. I knew it was really high, but that was it. Sensing Gohan's ki was like hearing white noise. I did know that it was greater than Cell's.  
  
It was unbelievable to see him beat up Cell so badly, so casually. Near me, Vegeta shook where he stood. I guess that he could sense the full extent of Gohan's power.  
  
Desperate, Cell tried his Kamehameha toward the Earth again. As the blast tore with astounding force toward the Earth, we all trembled. But Gohan only ripped through it with an even larger Kamehameha. Goku had had no idea how right he had been about his son's power.  
  
Cell floated in the air, devastated.  
  
"Now, Gohan," said Goku, "Finish him off!"  
  
Gohan turned around, and he had this look in his eyes... "It's too early, father. He must suffer more."  
  
Oh no. Not like this.  
  
Goku was horrified. He begged his son, pleaded with him, but was ignored. Poor Gohan! I never thought I'd see him - the most harmless, sweet kid I've ever met - acting like that. We should have known when we were pushing him that something like this would happen. That he'd get too far into it.  
  
Cell lost it and started making stupid mistakes. Gohan hit him so hard that he looked as if he was going to throw up. He did, but what emerged from his mouth was something I'd resigned myself to never seeing again.  
  
Number 18.  
  
Oh my god! Should I grab her? Is it possible that she's still alive?  
  
Cell mumbled something I didn't hear. Then he started to expand. He became like a giant, ugly balloon.  
  
"Ha ha ha," croaked the monstrosity. "In one minute I'll explode... this is the end of you bastards!"  
  
It hit us like a brick. We'd been so sure that we'd won, but what were we going to do now? We couldn't attack, that'd just make him explode faster. We couldn't do anything but despair. After all our efforts, this was the end of the Earth.  
  
So, we just sat there and waited.   
  
It isn't fair, I thought. We've been through Frieza, through so many things. Can't we ever be let alone? Is peace too much to ask?  
  
Goku stepped forward.  
  
"Sorry, everybody," he said, "But this is the only way I could think of to save the Earth."  
  
He teleported to Cell and placed a hand upon him, and then two fingers upon his own forehead.  
  
"Tell your mother I'm sorry, Gohan," said Goku.  
  
Then, he and Cell disappeared. Somewhere far away, Cell exploded, killing Goku and Kaio-sama.  
  
I dropped to my knees. Goku was gone. It hurt so badly. What a hero Goku had been. What a friend he'd been. I just wanted to collapse and never get up again.  
  
But then I saw Gohan screaming and beating the ground, and I thought that life had to go on. It wasn't right to dishonor Goku's sacrifice by being too unhappy.   
  
I walked up to Gohan and sadly put a hand on him. I smiled as best I could.  
  
"It's okay, Gohan," I told him. "It's over. You both finished him off."  
  
"It's my fault... I killed my father..."  
  
I shook my head. "Without you, the world would have been destroyed." I made him stand up. I told him that even though he'd died, Goku seemed happy that he (Gohan) had become so strong.  
  
Though I was sad, I was also happy in a slight way. After all, the Earth had been saved. I walked over to 18's limp form and lifted her. She was coated in some kind of slimy film from the inside of Cell, but she was alive. I breathed a sigh of relief. Held her close to me and got my gi all slimy.   
  
"What are you doing with that cyborg?" said Vegeta. "If it's still alive, kill it!"  
  
I told him no, that she wasn't bad. He hmphed at me but made no move to do anything.  
  
But it's never over when you think it's over, is it? Life just isn't that easy.  
  
A cloud of dust was suddenly thrown up where Cell had vanished, and a ki blast emerged from it and went straight through Trunks, killing him. Cell was back.  
  
Cell now looked more confident than ever, and his ki flare was insane. His power felt like Gohan's now - I didn't know how high it was. He'd somehow not only survived, but gotten even stronger! He told us that he'd managed to regenerate. That he hadn't been planning on that, but he was just lucky. I had flashbacks to Frieza emerging from the crater.  
  
Suddenly, Vegeta screamed and attacked Cell. It took a second for it to dawn on me that he was upset because Trunks had been killed. I wasn't even sure that Vegeta was capable of caring about other people.   
  
As much as Vegeta put into his attack, it was useless against Cell, who came at him from behind. I tried to warn Vegeta, but Cell was too fast. Cell knocked him to the ground and tried to kill him, but Gohan saved him at the last moment.  
  
However, in saving Vegeta, Gohan took a ki blast in the arm. After that, he couldn't use that arm at all.  
  
So, Cell prepared one last time a blast that would surely destroy the Earth. Once again we were all rendered helpless. Once again we all had to sit around and await our execution.   
  
With his one good arm, Gohan prepared a blast with one arm to counter Cell's.  
  
"It's no good," said Piccolo, "Gohan's ki is weaker." Everything we knew about ki told us that if two blasts hit each other, the one with the greater ki will prevail. When the blasts met, Gohan's blast began to be pushed back, and we prepared for the worst. Yet, at that moment something happened. Was it a miracle? Did Gohan just get his second wind? Whatever it was, Gohan's blast came back and overcame Cell's.  
  
There was a terrible blast and a deafening noise.  
  
Then, there was a deep silence.  
  
Cell was gone.  
  
--END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT-- 


	29. Aftermath

~Chapter 29: Aftermath~

For a moment, we couldn't believe it. We were still waiting for Cell to reform yet again and blow us away. But there it was - where Cell had been, there was only a crater. Gohan turned back to normal from Super Saiyan and fell where he stood.

It finally sunk in. I think it was Yamucha that started cheering. I smiled, but I felt somewhat melancholy. My thoughts all started, "Thank Kami it's over, but..."

Gohan was exhausted - who wouldn't be? - and injured, so we went to Kami's lookout immediately for healing. Yamucha carried Gohan. As I recall, Tenshinhan carried the corpse of Trunks(the one from the future, remember), and I held 18, who was alive but not waking up. She must have been damaged in some way by Cell's insides. I think we lost Vegeta.

Dende was conscious of everything that had happened, but was still anxious and pleased to see us. He healed Gohan immediately, and already everyone began to talk about using the dragon balls and resurrecting the dead. Mr. Popo went off to fetch the balls. No one seemed to notice, but I was still holding 18, and she still wasn't moving. I approached Dende.

"Ah... Dende-sama," I said.

"You don't have to address me like that, Kuririn," said Dende.

I couldn't help but find it strange - here was Kami telling me not to give him a title of respect. I shrugged it off and asked him if he could heal 18. People stopped what they were doing and began giving me wary looks.

"Well," said Dende, "I can't heal machines, but since she's a cyborg, it might work."

"Would you?" I implored. My eyes were shining with hope, I'm sure. Seeing his confusion, I added, "She isn't evil. Really."

Dende hesitated. He looked around at all of the surrounding faces, ranging from wary to hostile, and then back at me. For several seconds, he did nothing. There was no sound.

"I trust you, Kuririn," he said at last. "Lay her here."

I did as he told me, filled with a rush of relief. I wasn't sure whether 18 was in a coma or what, but it was beginning to worry me. Dende placed his hands upon 18, and her eyes snapped open. She stood up.

18 seemed ready to fight; you can't blame her, considering what the last thing she was conscious of must have been. Almost everyone was still cautious of her, too, so a fight might indeed have broken out. I did my best to calm her down, though, gently explaining what had happened. I had barely mentioned the fact that Gohan had defeated Cell when none other than Gohan spoke out.

"I get it!" he said. "Kuririn likes 18!"

My blood turned to ice. I felt as if the weight of the world had just fallen upon me, as I was met by bemused stares from all, including 18. 'Mortified' doesn't begin to describe how I felt. I hit the world's savior over the head in frustration, but the damage was done.

18 radiated pure contempt at me. "Don't be stupid," she said. "What did you think I was going to do, hold your hand?" With that, she dived off the side of the Lookout.

The incredulity of the remark hurt, hurt badly, even as I felt I deserved it - what WAS I expecting? - but the obvious shock and disgust from the others hurt almost as much. How desperate they must have thought me: Kuririn's finally lost it, he's in love with a cyborg. I was almost as hard on myself. "Stupid," I thought. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

I was grateful for the grand distraction of the summoning of Shenlon. I had never seen the giant dragon before, and it was as awe-inspiring as I could have hoped. A huge mass of scaly green coils filled the perfectly black sky and glared down at us with eyes that shone red. "Give me your wishes," said the beast, "But beware, for they shall come true."

Tersely, the wish was made to resurrect those killed by Cell. I expected a flash of light, a surge of ki, anything, but the only visible effect was an astonished resurrected Trunks rising from the floor. The ki on Earth didn't feel that different from before, but then, 20,000 people are a drop of water in the population of this planet. The only noticeable ki defect was something that wasn't there - Goku.

We had known that this Shenlon would not be able to bring Goku back from the dead. We tried again anyway and failed. We were still trying to think of a way to bring him back when we heard a cheerful voice in our heads. "Hi everybody," it said, "This is Goku!"

It was Goku! He was talking to us from the afterlife through Kaio-sama (who, by the way, was resurrected with the wish). Anxiously, we all searched around us for the source of the voice, though we knew better.

He told us not to try to resurrect him. I didn't understand. Why would Goku want to stay dead? He gave us a speech for a couple of minutes that was peppered with reasons, including that he was happier in the afterlife anyway and that he thought the Earth would be a better place without him because he attracted evil. At the end of it, I still didn't understand. No, Goku, I wanted to say, how could you think the Earth would be better off without you? We need you. I wanted to say all that, but I was too awestruck and wary of interrupting. All I managed to do was choke out the single word, "Goku", which went unnoticed.

While Goku apologized to Gohan and told us goodbye, I numbly and silently pleaded for him to come back. Soon his voice was gone, and we were left empty - the world without Goku. It had always seemed such a hopeless and sad place each time he'd left it before.

Yet, in that moment, I didn't feel sad, not exactly. Goku had sounded so happy... I took comfort in that, at least. He was the happiest dead guy I'd ever heard. I said goodbye to Goku. I thought it was forever.

Shenlon impatiently reminded us that we still had one more wish. The dragon god actually seemed somewhat miffed at having been ignored. There are a lot of things that we might have used that second wish for - imagine being able to wish for anything you want, anything in the universe! Yet, no one had any ideas. A few murmured potential wishes floated by, but they were only said in half-seriousness. None of us knew what to say.

I didn't want to make the wish myself. It feels so greedy to make a wish that you know will come true. But I knew that soon the wish would either be used for something frivolous or not used at all, and I was thinking of the cyborgs. How sad it was that they had been used by Dr. Gero, changed. I wished for 17 and 18 to be changed into humans.

You've probably guessed that that didn't work, right? With my many references to my wife as a cyborg, if you didn't then you haven't been paying attention. I was shocked - so much for any wish we want. Shenlon was turning out to be a bit of a disappointment - that was the second wish in a row he'd failed to grant. (I'm kidding, of course. I'm extremely grateful to Shenlon and Dende that we were able to revive all of the thousands of people killed by Cell. Those people were shaken, but alive. It went a long way toward the healing of the world.)

Scrambling for something else, I thought of the bombs inside the cyborgs and had Shenlon remove them. I'm glad that I did that - it's a terrible thing to imagine, having a bomb inside of you. Shenlon bid us farewell and the dragon balls scattered.

I guess I must then have voiced a misconception of mine up to that point about 17 as a possible romantic interest for 18 rather then me. I wasn't aware that they were twins. To my astonishment, 18 came out from behind the pillar where she had apparently been hiding and corrected me, insulted me, and then left. "See ya later," she said.

Okay, stunned is not an accurate description of me at that point. Paralyzed is more like it. I'd not been sure that I'd ever see her again, and she suddenly comes out from behind the pillar... I was totally silent, my jaw hanging open, wondering what that meant. For his part, Yamucha tried to be supportive - "Hey, she said she'd see you later!" - but most of the rest still seemed disgusted with me. Oh well.

Tenshinhan left after that. He said that he'd probably never meet us again. He wasn't quite right.

We said our goodbyes and left for our homes. I felt happy, but it was not an untainted happiness. The loss of Goku weighed heavy on me, and it became heavier when it occurred to me that poor Gohan was going to have to tell Chichi about his death. I pondered feeling angry at Goku for asking to remain dead, and then at feeling guilty for the small part I may have played in the events leading up to his death, but those emotions felt distant and worthless to me. I was just tired, and I wanted to go home.

I received an extremely anxious reception at the Kame House. I got my big news out of the way quickly - Cell was dead, but so was Goku. It's best to do it like that - get it out in the open. Once again, I found myself recapping the events of the day. My account was quite animated - in fact, I believe I may have activated my ki flare a couple of times for effect. After that, we just sat around and marveled at the situation, the way things had turned out. Roshi-sama, Oolong, and I exchanged memories of Goku. That was fun. I could still do that.

We also watched a bit of the news. Two stories were all over the broadcast. One of them was that Mr. Satan, grand champion of the world, had defeated Cell and saved humanity. The reports showed him being paraded around the capital, met with cheers and bestowed with honors. He'd wasted no time in securing a cozy little spot for himself in the annals of history. I don't know how in the world he managed to take credit like that, but I'm an optimist - I have a little more faith in human beings than to think they would all buy that. I like to think that those with a little more common sense realized, from what they knew of Cell's power and what they saw on TV, that Mr. Satan could not possibly have defeated Cell. I do know that several brave magazines and newspapers printed cover stories on the true story of Cell, analyzing the creature and its path of destruction and featuring interviews, usually with Yamucha but on one occasion with me. Many Satan fans were furious and threatened to boycott these magazines, but they refused to print any retractions. Mr. Satan tried to sue a couple of these publications, but I'm happy to say that he failed. Incidentally, this whole affair is how it came to be that we all became semi-famous, but I'll get to talking about that later.

The other news story was more heartening - thousands presumed missing or dead had been found in cities where Cell had decimated populations, and more were being found every minute. A couple were hit by cars after appearing in the road (fortunately, there were no deaths), but the rest were okay. Dazed masses and tearful reunions were shown on the television. Reporters said that the causes behind this were still a mystery, but called the occurrence "miraculous".

A brief mention was made in the news of an unexplained darkening of the sky in a large part of the world. No connections were made between this and the returned dead. Too bad.

Just after breakfast the next day, I was summoned by a telephone call. It was the Ox King, asking me to come to a funeral for Goku, to take place that same day. Of course I said I would come.

It was a formal affair; All three of us (Umigame didn't go, not being fond of travel) had to dig pretty deep to find appropriate attire. I had knots in my stomach as we drove there. It felt very strange - we had already said goodbye to Goku. Anything further felt uncomfortable to me.

The service couldn't really be called a funeral, there not being a body. The centerpiece was a little monument to Goku, with photos and personal effects. Roshi-sama added a Kame School uniform from when Goku was a kid. I've never had an effect of Goku's. I'd never thought of it, but I regretted it then.

The atmosphere was one of solemn amazement. Many of us were still struggling to grasp the fact that Goku was dead; he'd been dead before, but that was different somehow - mainly, this time he was staying dead, or at least we thought so at the time.

I'll try to remember all of the people who were there. Remembering what everyone wore helps: it stands out because we aren't largely a formal wear group of people. Yamucha, Pu'ar, Bulma, Mrs. Briefs, Trunks(both of them!) Chichi, Ox King, Gohan, Oolong, Muten Roshi, and I were all there, as well as some friends of the Son family. The people in the worst shape were Gohan, who looked as if he were wrestling with an issue too heavy for someone so young, and Chichi.

Chichi came to me before the ceremonies. She looked... frail. Her eyes seemed big and dark and hollow. She was not crying, but she had been recently. I felt at once sympathetic and guilty. We had always been at odds with Chichi, the lot of us. She was the stick in the mud, the harsh mother, the crazy woman. There were even jokes about her being the only thing that Goku was really afraid of. But looking at her then, all of that was dispelled. She was grieved, small, human. I realized that all she'd been trying to do all her life was to make a normal, happy home for her family. And how hard she'd had it; her husband was always leaving on some adventure or another (not to say that Goku was a bad husband, but you have to admit he was gone a lot), her young child had been stolen away for a year - hard enough for a mother to cope with, but by the Great Demon Piccolo! - and both of them had left the planet to battle evil. Now Goku was dead. I shrunk away from her. What could I say?

"Chichi-san," I said, "Are you..."

"As well as can be expected, I suppose," she said breathlessly. "Kuririn."

"Yes?"

"You know that Goku- he felt very close to you. He always said..." She seemed unable to speak. "He talked about you."

"I guess... I mean, he did?"

"Well," she said, "If you want to say anything--" She threw up her arms slightly, a gesture of helplessness. Her stare seemed fixed upon a certain location in the floor, and her eyes were shut. "--Then you ought to be the one to say it." After nodding a couple of times, she left me to sit with her father.

So, throughout the service and the other speeches, I was writing on napkins. I've had the foresight to save these napkins, so I can relate more or less what I said about Goku at that service.

When I got up to deliver my eulogy, I looked around at all of the concerned faces. I was terrified that I would sound corny or trite or that my words would be discomforting. Still, I did my best.

"Goku was a great hero," I said. "He saved worlds, pushed himself beyond unimaginable limits of strength to beat demons and tyrants and creatures that threatened the safety of innocent people. He was a Super Saiyan warrior, as powerful as a star and as imposing as a mountain, and he did great things as a warrior, great things."

I scanned the crowd. People were sighing, turning away. Well, I thought, here's my big turn.

"But I don't think that that's what we're here to remember, not really. For somebody who could destroy a planet, Goku was one of the sweetest, most gentle men I've ever known. He always seemed friendly, and usually happy, and well, that was infectious. We were all close to him. I think that he may have been my best friend. I was pretty hostile as a kid, but Goku won me over. I think you'd have to have a heart of stone for him not to. I guess the thing I remember most about Goku is how hopeful he was. No matter how bad things got, he always had hope, and we all hoped with him. Without Goku, there seems to be just a little less hope in the world, a little less (smudged, and I don't remember)."

I think it might have been there that I got a bit emotional. I hadn't thought that I would.

"There was always something kind of untouchable about him. He was like a tensed spring or a butterfly: when you were in a room with him you could scarcely believe it was real. He always seemed just about to slip through your fingers. (There's a couple more sentences here, but I don't think I managed to get them out.) Well, he's gone now, but we have to carry on. We have each other, and this great big peaceful world, and maybe when things get really tough, we can just remember something about Goku that made us smile, and it'll give us some hope to sustain us."

I felt drained after the speech. I guess I hadn't realized until I put it into words like that just how much I missed him.

I went up to Gohan, for some reason full of apologies. "No, it was fine, Kuririn-san," he said, "It was good. It reminded me of Dad."

I have more memories of that occasion, but I don't want to dwell on it. Honestly, I debated whether or not to keep the eulogy in. That wasn't the last of Goku for us, not really. Some of the best times we had with him were in the decade after he came back to life.

Quite a few of us went to Chichi and said we would do whatever we could to help her. She insisted that she was fine, she could handle it. We made some promises anyway.

We also saw Trunks off that day. He was traveling back to his own timeline; he was pretty sure he could handle things now. We wished him luck. He must have been through a hell of a lot. I hope that he found peace in his shattered world. It's strange to think that the first thing he must have done was to kill 17 and 18, but I guess that's the way things had to be. It's worth noting that Vegeta was there when he left. They didn't speak to each other, but they seemed somehow to have resolved their differences. Trunks went back to his own time with a good feeling about his father. It wasn't wrong, really.

At home again, I was restless. I stopped writing. I made a couple of half-hearted attempts to get a job, but nothing came of it.

I should explain about money and life at the Kame House. It's a bit complicated.

Muten Roshi had a lot of money saved up to sustain him in life as a hermit. He didn't anticipate, however, that other people would be living with him, and expenses gradually chipped away at those savings. By the time I was resurrected after Frieza, we were actually living on what was left of Oolong's money, for Oolong was once quite rich (it involves shapeshifting, easily scared villagers, and little girls - you don't want to know). We were starting to run out of that during the time I was training to fight the androids. Roshi-sama impressed me by selling the greater part of his legendary porn collection, which brought in a substantial amount of money, but we knew it wouldn't last forever. We were looking for a source of income, and through a series of events I came to Bulma. To my great surprise, she said she'd give us whatever we needed.

"Are you serious?" I said.

"Sure. What do you guys need, like 60,000 zenii a year? That's nothing. I mean, I wouldn't give it away, but you're friends."

"But... I mean... we can't..."

"Look, don't worry about it. Just don't go on any spending splurges or anything. You've probably saved my life at some point, right? It's the least I can do. As for the turtle hermit, well, he may be an old pervert, but he's my old pervert." She winked at me. "Tell him I said that."

So it was for nearly a decade. Can you believe it? I always felt a little guilty about it, like I should be supporting us, but there it was. I have to thank Bulma again. You don't often encounter generosity like that.

Back on topic, I was restless. I did a lot of thinking. I thought of 18. The first thing I did was to categorically rule out any possibility of a romantic relationship between her and me. Get real, I told myself, like that's gonna happen. Besides, upon reflection I realized that I wasn't even sure that that was what I wanted. I was not in love with her - that fact, I went to great pains to hammer into my mind. How could I be? I barely knew her. I'd learned my lesson from Maron about basing everything on looks - I'd thought I was in love with her, and it took me months to realize that I never had been.

Still, I did want to see 18 again. I was worried about her. While it was pretty certain she could take care of herself as far as surviving went, I couldn't imagine that she'd do too well out in the world of people. And she deserves a chance, I thought. She deserves a chance to live a good life, to experience the best of the world. I may not have been in love with her, but I did care about her, and I liked her, anyway - I allowed myself that much.

I had no way of knowing where 18 was, however, not being able to trace her ki, and even if I did I doubt I would have had the nerve to go looking for her - that just seemed a bit too creepy, like stalking. Therefore, I did nothing about this feeling and just shoved it in the back of my head where it kept bothering me, nibbling at me.

The only time I discussed the subject with any of my friends was with Yamucha, about a week after the wishes were made. We were at his place, I'd come over because I couldn't think of anything else to do.

"You know, Kuririn, I've been thinking about 18, and I don't want to tell you how to run your life, but maybe that wouldn't be the best thing for you, at least right now."

"What do you mean?" I asked lamely.

Yamucha believed me when I said that she wasn't evil, but she could still be dangerous, he said. There were a lot of things we didn't know about the cyborgs. They were very strong and seemed indifferent, and if I started something I might get hurt, emotionally or physically. Besides, I shouldn't start a serious relationship with a girl based just upon looks and first impressions. Trust him, he said, he knew from experience.

"I wasn't thinking about her that way," I lied.

Yamucha gave me a look that let me know that he knew that was a load of crap. "Look," he said, "I don't mean to bring you down or anything. Who knows, maybe I'm totally wrong, but I don't want to see you get hurt. Just don't rush into anything, is all I'm saying."

I told him not to worry, I wasn't about to go search the ends of the Earth for her. I'm not that desperate, I said. I guess I might have come off as hostile, but I appreciated what Yamucha was doing. He always had been protective of me. I added his advice to the mental block around my feelings for 18, but it didn't stop bothering me. Whenever I didn't have anything to do, my thoughts went to her - where is she right now? Does she have a place to sleep, to live? Is she lonely? Did she ever find her brother?

My solution was to always have something to do. I organized the stuff in the attic of the Kame House. I started writing again and managed to sell my first short story. But my major occupation was helping Chichi and her family.

When word got around that Chichi was pregnant again, a lot of us came around to help in various ways, but I became a regular fixture there. Gohan was very busy with his studies, Chichi was already swamped with things to do and was trying to rest more now that she was pregnant, so I did a lot of things for the Son family. Made trips to the grocery store. Cleaned. Cooked. Filled the empty chair at their supper table. It was hectic sometimes, but I enjoyed it.

I fit in fairly well, too. Surprisingly, Chichi warmed up to me after some time. She'd never really liked me before, but she told me that they appreciated what I was doing. I talked to her sometimes; she seemed to be coping pretty well, all things considered. Sometimes we would talk about Goku, and I learned about a side of Goku I'd seen only a little of. Goku really was a good and loving family man when he was around. As she told me of some of the things he used to do, I started to understand just why she missed him so much, and why she'd always been so frustrated when he was off training for or fighting one thing or another. A lot became clearer to me in those conversations.

I also spent some time with Gohan. I did some things outdoors with him, let him breathe. It felt just like old times, but not quite. Gohan wasn't the same kid I'd known before, and I mean more than just that he was getting older. He was still cheerful and friendly most of the time, but he seemed troubled. I talked to him about that. He had a lot on his mind, the poor kid. All of his worries were about other people, no thought for himself. I did my best to comfort him, help him unwind a bit, but my words felt small and worthless compared to the weight on Gohan's mind. That was a tough period for him.

I don't regret the time I spent with them; I hope I helped them cope in some small way. Yet, I was around there just a bit too often, and held on just a little bit too long. Things started to become a little uncomfortable. I didn't notice it at first.

I kept hanging around there until Bulma came there one time and happened to make a remark that scared me. "I think it's more likely to find Kuririn here than at his place lately," she said.

It was a lighthearted comment, but it got me thinking. I realized it was true. I heard a kind of voice in my head.

"Stop trying to replace Goku. You never will."

It made sense now: I'd been looking for purpose in my life, so without even thinking about it, I'd supplanted myself into the gap in Goku's family. I was aghast when I realized it. This was more than just helping out. This was dangerous.

So, I left them before I'd overstayed my welcome and sat around at the Kame House, feeling confused. What was I missing? Eventually, after talking to my old mentor Roshi-sama, I decided I'd do a bit of traveling. I left home in search of closure. I traveled by flight. I brought only a backpack.

When I was flying near a certain area of forest, I caught a glimpse of something in the corner of my vision: a wisp of yellow and white. I saw only a split-second's worth of the image, but it seemed to have the shape of a flying woman.

Immediately, I halted my flight and whipped around to see. There was nothing there but endless sky stretching over a thick forest. I flew all over in search of what I'd seen, but found nothing.

I shook my head. "You're losing it, man," I said to myself. "There's nothing there at all."

I continued then on my flight. I went a few other places before arriving at my final destination, but those stops are unimportant - I was just catching up with some old friends and acquaintances. Yajirobe politely declined a joking offer of a rematch. Inhabitants of a certain market neighborhood were surprised to see the funny-looking strong kid again. Finally, I came to my last stop.

The Orinji Temple seemed smaller than I'd remembered it. It looked like an image in a painting, rendered in dull earth tones with splashes of green. I had to rub my eyes to make myself believe that I was there. It was a place reserved in my mind to the most distant and dreamlike of memories.

Yet, as I approached it, such long-forgotten or blurred memories came rushing back, clear as glass but far more random. One of them greeted me at the door. It was my old rival, the same boy who had oppressed me in my youth and whom I'd annihilated in my first Budokai match ever. He was very surprised to see me. "You haven't changed much," he said, but he had changed. His voice had lost the hostility. A sneer no longer tugged at the corner of his lip. I bowed politely to him, but I didn't say anything of consequence. What was there to say?

I was grateful to find that my old sensei, my Master Orin, was still there. "It's the prodigal son," he said to me. "Tell me, does this mean you've become the strongest fighter the world has ever known?"

I smiled and shook my head. "I gave up on that goal a long time ago."

"Yet you have become very strong, in body and in spirit. Your exploits have not failed to reach us here. You flew here, correct?" I nodded. "Yes... I expected great things for you."

We chatted for a while longer. It was actually he that came to the point.

"You have not returned here to stay," he said.

"No, I haven't." I admitted.

"Nor should you have. This is not the place for you any longer. But there is something on your conscience. Tell me, and I will see if I may help."

I thought for a while before responding. The question I'd come to ask was making a lump in my throat. Was I afraid of what I might hear?

"Can you tell me who my parents were?" I said.

Orin-sensei folded his hands. He scanned me for a moment with eyes that were aging, but alert.

"Come," he said to me, "Let me show you something."

I followed him outside and a short way into the forest. We stopped among a group of trees that didn't seem especially different from all the rest.

"This is where I found you," he said.

I leaned down and stared intensely at the base of one of the trees. After nearly a minute, I caught the old familiar flash: big, strong hands reaching down to lift me out of the little bed where I lay, at the base of a tree. For the first time, it became clear to me which tree was in the vision, and to whom the hands belonged, but that was it. I still felt empty. I still felt an unanswered yearning to know where I came from.

"Do you know anything about... how I got here?"

"No."

I became frustrated and angry. "Well... I mean... what kind of person leaves kids in the forest?"

"If I knew, I would tell you."

He started giving me advice - sage advice about how to deal with this and how relationships formed in life can be as close and important as those dictated by biology or something like that. I'm guessing. I wish I could remember what he said, but I don't remember a word. Even then, I wasn't listening. I was still staring at the tree. I was still searching the innocent plant for answers it could never give me. The tree sagged slightly in the wind and drooped its branches, almost as if it were apologizing or even reaching out to me. The thought struck me as ludicrous immediately - there was no way that a simple tree could care. No way at all.

I took my time getting home. I stopped at the most scenic spots I could find and looked out at the sky and the ocean. The trip had yielded no answers. If anything, I felt more confused than before. Not feeling ready to move, I slept on a bluff, out in the open.

I missed the moon that night.

The next day, I passed the same stretch of forest as before. I caught the same wisp in the corner of my vision. I almost ignored it, but thought better of it and looked.

This time, the vision did not disappear. It resolved itself into 18. I felt a dull thud in my chest. This was unreal. I could hardly believe it.

I stared at her for a while before getting up the courage to say something.

"Maybe the first time was an accident," I ventured.

"Maybe," she conceded. Her voice carried poorly. It was windy.

"Can we talk?"

She jerked her head at a nearby clearing. We landed there.

She was wearing clothing I hadn't seen her in before. She's as beautiful as I remember, I thought, but I struggled to put that out of my mind. She frowned slightly, her blue eyes cold and alert and her arms curtly folded. She looked at me emotionlessly and said, "So, talk."

"Um, well... I've been thinking about you." I wasn't sure how it sounded. I wasn't even sure how she took it, so I pressed on. "I mean, how are you doing? Do you have a place to live?"

"I live in a cabin in the forest," she said. "With my brother."

The trees around us swayed violently in the breeze. Strands of 18's hair blew into and away from her face. I told myself to press on. This was my only chance, I couldn't lose it. Think of a response. Just say anything.

"Oh, so you did find him, then... um... Still, it must be pretty isolated out here, huh?"

Her eyebrow arched in disdain. "Hmph. I'm fine. Worry about yourself. What reason do you have to be thinking of me, anyway?"

"Oh, I don't know," I mumbled, "Maybe I'm crazy."

"That's occurred to me."

For a while, neither of us said anything. Then, she spoke again.

"You know, it may not have been the smartest thing in the world to meet me out here. It would be very easy for me to kill you. Your friends might never know it was me." A pause. "I won't, but I could, and I might have."

"I know." I wasn't worried.

"Don't think I'm not because of any emotional reasons, either. I'm a cyborg. I don't have feelings like that."

The remark made me feel powerfully sad. She was denying herself. "I don't think that's true," I said.

18 looked shocked for a moment, and then her demeanor underwent a shift from merely annoyed and somewhat curious to guarded and pissed off. She scowled. "Did you have a reason for talking to me?"

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that if you needed a place to stay, we probably have room at the Kame House. I'd understand if that's weird, because everyone there is male and you're... not male..." I winced. "...but we could probably find another place for you to stay if you wanted. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to put the moves on you or anything, but... there are a lot of people out there, 18. I know you probably don't care much for them right now, but a lot of them aren't so bad... once you get to know them..." I trailed off.

She considered this for a moment, then nodded.

"Well, you've let me know."

Back at home, I wondered excitedly whether the meeting had been a dream. I didn't say anything to anyone about it - it felt too weird. When Roshi-sama asked me how my trip went, I just told him that I didn't find the answer I was looking for, but it had helped anyway. Little further mention was made. Time passed.

On a night about two weeks later, a light rain was falling over Kame Island. I'd just been hit with inspiration for a short story and had been writing for twenty minutes or so when there was a very unusual event - a knock at the door. I answered it.

She looked as if she'd already turned around to leave. Seeing me, she hesitated, then finally resolved to stand in the doorway. She was soaked.

"Can I come in?"

--END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE--


	30. 18

~Chapter 30: 18~  
  
"When you're following an angel,  
  
Does that mean you have to  
  
Throw your body off a building?"  
  
- They Might Be Giants, "She's an Angel"  
  
~~~  
  
part I  
  
There she was, standing in my doorway. I wish I could say that I handled it well and was a perfect gentleman, rather than standing there in total shock, staring at her. She had to repeat her question before I shook myself out of it.  
  
I let her in. I made a couple of worthless comments about the weather or something, which she did not acknowledge. She never made eye contact with me; instead, she scanned the house, evaluating it.  
  
"I have to sleep tonight," she said. "Is that okay?"  
  
If the wording struck me as a little odd, I didn't realize it immediately. I told her that of course that was fine. I showed her to my room, grateful now for the large bed that I'd always felt a little lost in. Don't worry about me, I said, I'll sleep in the living room. She seemed to be fine with this. "This will do," she said.  
  
I turned the bed down for her, making a couple more unnoticed statements and providing information about the location of the bathroom. I was extremely nervous. I wondered if I was doing anything wrong. I thought that if she didn't respond to something I said soon, I'd go insane.  
  
"So, um, what happened to 17?" I said.  
  
Now, she looked at me. "My brother," she said venomously, "Is a childish idiot."  
  
I recoiled a bit. Okay, I thought. Obviously a delicate subject.  
  
All of these events passed very quickly, and I soon found myself on the floor of the living room under a blanket, living up to my promise to sleep there. But I didn't sleep for quite a while - alone with my thoughts, I was too excited. What was going to happen next? I just didn't know. It was the first time in a while I could remember my life (my day-to-day life, that is) actually being exciting. I felt optimistic, almost giddy.  
  
Despite the small amount of sleep I got, I was up fairly early the next morning, fixing pancakes with a raspberry syrup and orange juice (Why in the world do I remember this?) for breakfast. Roshi-sama was the second inhabitant to wake up that morning, and it was when I saw him that something painfully obvious dawned on me.  
  
I realized with a sudden shock that permission to stay at the Kame House wasn't exactly mine to give. It was Roshi's house, after all. When he approached, I cowered like a guilty man.  
  
It took me a little while to work up the nerve to bring up the subject of 18 with Roshi-sama. When I finally asked him - blurted it out, really - he took a moment to consider it. I was very anxious, but I needn't have worried.  
  
"Well, you really should have asked me, but I don't think it'll be a problem. No, don't think of it," he said as I thanked him. He leaned in close to me. "Hey, is she a hottie?"  
  
I sighed and nodded placatingly.  
  
"No problem at all, my boy," he concluded, smiling broadly.  
  
Oolong was less keen on the idea - wasn't she one of the androids I had been training to fight all of that time? - but he didn't have much time to voice his objections before I was setting the table and all of us, 18 included, sat down to eat. I probably inquired as to how she slept, to some mildly positive response.  
  
Breakfast began to proceed as normal, but 18 did not start eating with the rest of us. Instead, she just looked anxiously down at her plate. The stillness at her part of the table soon disrupted the rhythm of the breakfast so that no one at all was eating.  
  
Amid the nervous silence, a thought occurred to me that seemed ridiculous yet worthy of consideration. I had to say something, so I brought it up.  
  
"I'm sorry, 18..." I said. "Do you... ah... eat?" I winced preemptively at the potential offensiveness of the question.  
  
She recoiled in horror. "What do you take me for? Of course I eat!" To prove her point, she snatched a fork off of the table and began furiously eating. I sank in my chair and fought the urge to let my face fall all the way into the raspberry-soaked cake on my plate. Things were starting off just great.  
  
As I recall, the next time I got the nerve to speak to her, it was about clothes. Surely, she needed some. She agreed, and we went out to town to go shopping. I was surprised to learn how much 18 enjoyed doing this. We were at it for a few hours, and I saw her smiling for the first time... well, ever. Of course, we didn't have a lot of money, so she wasn't able to get a lot of what she wanted; she sighed at this, but didn't really complain. I'll admit I was a bit worried about being among all those people, but the trip was pretty incident-free, aside from a very casually made comment to the cashier that she didn't have to pay if she didn't want to.  
  
I tried to talk to her a few times, but she responded to everything I said either very literally or not at all. Finally, she said, "You keep talking to me, but you don't really have anything important to say. Why do humans feel the need to constantly run their mouths at one another?"  
  
I don't know, I told her. Maybe they were just trying to establish some kind of emotional connection.  
  
"Well, don't. You're just making yourself look stupid."  
  
I told her I was sorry. I was mostly quiet after that.  
  
Back at home, she changed into some of her new clothes. I told her that she looked great; she supposed it was okay. The next thing I remember she was looking at my bookshelf, reading the titles off of the spines.  
  
"You read a lot?" she asked.  
  
As a matter of fact, I did. Sometimes there wasn't much to do around the Kame House, so I'd read no less than a couple hundred books to pass the time; many of these still found a place on my shelf. 18's attention was caught by one of the titles.  
  
"Wait," she said, "I could swear that I've seen this before..."  
  
It was a leather-bound copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. I gave her my brief summary of it and said that it was a classic. "All right," she said, "I'll read it, then."  
  
And damned if she didn't sit down and do just that. It was the weirdest thing - I've heard of people reading books in one sitting, but The Count of Monte Cristo is over 1200 pages. She took tea when I offered it, but she didn't come to dinner. She didn't speak for the rest of the day. I tried to do other things and just leave her to her book, but I couldn't get into anything. The presence of her just felt so powerful in me that I was hard pressed to ignore it. I could feel her there, just one or two rooms away, sitting in my house - Number 18, actually in my house! The mere fact of it was putting me off. It seems funny now, when I turn around and usually expect to see her.  
  
She was still reading when I told her I was going to bed. She looked up from her book.   
  
"Really? To sleep?"  
  
"Um... yeah."  
  
She frowned quizzically. "Didn't you just do that yesterday?"  
  
"Well... I sleep pretty much every day, really." For some reason, I felt at that moment that maybe sleeping every night really was an odd thing to do, that I was crazy. She asked me if I was lazy or something. Eventually I regained my senses and told her that just about everyone I knew slept every night, so far as I knew.   
  
"Hm," she said, seeming to file this away. "Well, you can have the bed if you want. I won't have to sleep again for a few more days."  
  
I went to bed. That was odd, I thought, but then again, she is a cyborg. When I thought about it, it might actually be nice to not be required to sleep so often. Think of how much of our lives we're missing. I lay in bed thinking that I could hear her turn the pages, which was ridiculous because she did it so soundlessly, hooking her index finger under the top of the page and gently pushing it to the side. Still, this imagined rhythm worked me into a trance from which sleep was easily achieved.  
  
Of course, she was still reading when I got up. It wasn't until midway through that day that she put the book down with a thud.  
  
I looked at her amusedly. "You're done? Seriously?"  
  
"Yes. I didn't really understand it. If Dantés wanted revenge so badly, why didn't he just kill his enemies, instead of structuring his life around some elaborate scheme?"  
  
I told her that I didn't know, badly stifling a laugh.  
  
"What?" she said in perfect seriousness. "As it was, the damn thing was so long I feel like I've been in prison for fourteen years as well."  
  
I told her that most people didn't read it all at once. She waved her hand at me dismissively, giving up on the subject.  
  
Not much happened for the next few days. 18 brooded, often spending long periods of time staring out the window. Oolong told me that it made him nervous. I shrugged helplessly, but I had to admit that the tension was getting kind of thick. After about the dozenth offer I made to 18 to get her something or take her somewhere, she spoke to me.  
  
"Why are you being so nice to me?" she said.  
  
I blathered for a bit about her being my guest and how I didn't think I was being that great of a host, now that she mentioned it, before I realized that she was being serious. There was something troubled in her eyes, something that told me that she didn't understand, that she needed to understand. This realization stemmed the easy flow of mindless talk from me. Very quietly, I managed to say something to the effect of that I guessed I just wanted her to be happy.  
  
"Hmp," she said, not buying it. Then, after a pause, she added, "Wait a minute... I get it."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"That's right, I can't believe I forgot. It's that romance stuff again, isn't it? You want me to be your 'girlfriend'." The word trickled out in an ooze of contempt. "That's the reason you care about me. That's what you have to gain."  
  
I became very flustered and defensive. I denied the charge.  
  
She took no notice, confident in her assessment. She looked almost vindicated, as if a weight that had been bothering her was suddenly removed. "Well, you can quit wasting your time. I'm a cyborg, remember? Get it through your head. We don't need things like that. We're above them."  
  
There it was again: the self-denial. I felt a powerful need to reach out to her, to peel away this protective skin and show her and everyone else what she truly was, but I felt like I was looking at her from behind a glass barrier, incapable of doing anything. "Maybe... maybe you do need someone, 18," I said. "Maybe you've convinced yourself that you don't."  
  
Now she was beyond concern. "If you believe that, little human, then you're even more foolish than I thought."  
  
I felt like someone had stabbed me. "Of course," I mumbled, "I apologize," and I promptly went outside.  
  
I laid on the roof and stared at the sky, letting all of my pain soak in. I wondered if maybe this hadn't been such a great idea. Then, I wondered if 18's accusation had been true on some level, despite my vigorous denial. If so, I thought, maybe this isn't the best thing for her. But these thoughts just aimlessly flew around my head until I calmed down.  
  
I think it was pretty soon after that - the day after the next, if not the next day - that 18 suggested we spar. Roshi and Oolong were out on some outing to the city - to see a movie, I think.  
  
It wasn't something she'd been considering, it obviously had just occurred to her. She'd been feeling bored, she said, and when she was with 17 they would occasionally fight. Maybe that was what she needed to calm her down, she said. I told her that I wasn't in her league. "I know that," she said, "But you're the closest thing I'm going to find around here." She promised not to fight at full strength. I still wasn't sure that it was a good idea, but I eventually relented.  
  
We found a relatively empty plain on the mainland not too far away. It was still.   
  
She asked me if I needed to power up or something. Oh, yeah, I said, and did. It took me a few seconds. I was pleased to note that I was a bit stronger than I'd been during the whole Cell affair. I scoffed at myself for this pleasure. My power was nothing.  
  
Of course, one-sided is a laughable understatement as a description of what followed. I tried my best, but for her it was as if I were moving in slow motion. The first time she hit me, even though she wasn't using her full strength, I nearly fell apart. My vision blinked out and there was a sharp ringing in my head. After the second time, I barely got back up. A couple more blows and, well, I was just out.   
  
"Ow," I said with spectacular honesty.  
  
She said that I was pathetic. As easy as it had been to fight the others (Piccolo, Trunks, and Vegeta, I assume) before, at least it had been harder than this. "Sorry," I said.  
  
18 looked very frustrated, as if she weren't sure why she'd done this, nor was she sure of what she would do next. "You know," she said after a while, "Our data told us that you were the strongest human on this planet."  
  
I perked up a bit. "Really?"  
  
"That wasn't intended as a compliment."  
  
She talked for a little while about humans: how they were so unbelievably weak and not even especially intelligent. She didn't even see how we were all allowed to live, she said, let alone rule the planet. Why did I think humans had managed to achieve such dominance?  
  
I don't know, I said. I guess we have to have something going for us, I said.  
  
18 dismissed the entire human species. Weak and worthless were the words I believe she used. I took it in stride. I was more interested in my own pain right about then.  
  
"Hey, 18," I said, "Help me up."  
  
"You're kidding. You need my help to get up, after just that?"  
  
Well, yeah, afraid so. She looked at me for a little while, she seemed to be really thinking about it. At last, she concluded, "Those wounds aren't serious. You can get up by yourself."  
  
I suddenly became filled with fear and panic. Up to that point, I hadn't been upset. Mind you, I don't enjoy getting beat up, but I can take it. I'm used to it, and it was an assumed risk. But this, this wasn't something you messed around with. You always helped somebody up. It may have been true that the wounds weren't serious, and with some time and effort I may have been able to get up on my own despite them, but it was so much less of a struggle with someone else to help you. They don't have to support your whole weight, just enough so that you know you're not alone, that you have something to fall back on. You always helped someone up. To do otherwise was betrayal.  
  
She started to leave. "18," I said, "You aren't just going to leave me here!"  
  
She paused, then turned around.  
  
"If you need my help," she said disdainfully, "You may as well already be dead."  
  
I stayed there for almost a quarter of an hour, reflecting on that. I felt so terrible and sad and angry. She hadn't cared at all, I thought, for how I felt. She treated me as she pleased. I might have sat there for the better part of an hour moping about this, but a volatile mix of anger and determination struck a spark in my mind. I don't think that at any point in my life before that I'd have had that courage to do anything about it, but as I've said, I have more courage when I think about her. I was not going to let things stay this way.  
  
Therefore, I got up. It was easy, despite the pain I was in. I had a powerful headache and one of my eyes was swollen shut, but 18 had been right about the wounds not being serious. I flew home. I was weak so it took longer than usual.  
  
18 was right there when I opened the door. This was good, because I wasn't sure whether I would be able to keep my determination up if I had to walk through the house. Roshi and Oolong were back.  
  
I'm not sure that the following is what I said. The hell with it, I'm sure it's not what I said, but the mood is what's important. The main points. It's what I would have said, if things had gone perfectly.  
  
"18, I think it would be best if you would leave."  
  
Everything was frozen in shock. She walked towards me, staring at me incredulously. Ki or no ki, I could feel her power, and I knew that she would have no trouble snapping me like a twig if she wanted to. Still, I did my best to stand firm.  
  
"Excuse me?" she said. "You invited me here. What do you think gives you the right to throw me out now?"   
  
"It isn't going to work like this. You can't treat me this way. I gave you a chance, 18. Even though a lot of people didn't want me to, I did."  
  
"Oh, stop trying to play yourself up as the big saint! All you wanted was--"  
  
"Maybe that's true and maybe it isn't," I snapped, surprising even myself, really. "But that isn't the point. You came here freely, and we took you in. You can't take advantage of that and do this. You say that you don't need anybody, and maybe you don't, but no one will accept you if you treat them like this. I won't stand for it."  
  
I felt exhausted, my courage spent. Number 18 stared at me, and I bowed my head. I was sure that she would either leave or kill me, and I wished she would hurry and do either (though both terrified me), because that moment was excruciating. I didn't expect to see what I saw then.  
  
First there was surprise in her eyes, then briefly a kind of sadness. Finally she cast a steady gaze slightly downward and said, "You're right."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"You're right, and I'm sorry. I realize... I've been acting so childishly since I got here. Just like my brother. I'll leave now." She walked to the door.  
  
Halfway out, she turned around and looked back. "I... I don't know..." she said with a profound kind of sadness I hadn't seen in her before, "Where I'm going to go..."  
  
She flew away. I could say no words. All of the sound seemed to have vacated the universe.  
  
For a few minutes, I sat with Oolong and Roshi-sama. I looked at them - their expressions seemed frozen in time - and at the floor. Then, I flew away too.  
  
Don't ask me how I found her. I just did.  
  
She stopped in the air when she saw me, and was completely confused.  
  
"Why are you following me?"  
  
"Please come back," I said. "I don't want you to leave."  
  
---  
  
part II  
  
Though hesitant, Number 18 agreed to come back to the Kame House with me.  
  
I did my best to make reparations with the others. It's all right. Things'll be better now. She said she was sorry. Yeah, I know I'm bleeding. It's just a couple of flesh wounds and a black eye. Nothing to worry about...  
  
I could have gone to Dende's lookout and had him heal me - I'm sure he would have been happy to - but I figured he probably had enough to do as Earth's new Kami. Besides, I didn't mind the pain so much. After I got some rest I felt a lot better.  
  
I smiled groggily at 18 in the morning. Hi, I said. She responded with another "hi". She asked me how my eye was. Getting better, thanks, I told her. There was no further discussion of the night before.  
  
I saw this as a new beginning for us - a kind of clean slate, I guess. "So," I said to her, "Maybe we should get to know each other a little better."  
  
"All right, but there isn't much to know about me."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"All I know is that I am Artificial Human Number 18, creation of the great Sir Doctor Gero of the Red Ribbon Army, which has fallen but is destined to rise again," she said, and sighed. "That statement was fabricated. You have no idea how annoying it is having this tripe in your memory."  
  
I agreed with her. "But... who were you before you were Number 18?"  
  
"...A human woman."  
  
I gaped. "That's all you know?"  
  
"I'm guessing even that." Her face darkened. "He took it all, you know. Our memories, our feelings, everything. Wiped us clean. I know nothing but the data I was given and what I've learned since we woke up."  
  
I didn't know what to say. "That's terrible."  
  
"..."  
  
I was shocked - I'd had no idea that what Gero had done to them had been so thorough. Can you imagine having your entire past wiped away, waking up and not even knowing who or what you were? Not only that, but turned into something else, your very nature violated from the inside out.   
  
"Stop looking at me like that! Don't pity me."  
  
"Oh... I'm sorry."  
  
We were silent for a little while, and then I smiled. Don't worry, I told her, you'll start a new life. You'll make new memories.  
  
She considered this.   
  
"Maybe," she said.  
  
I might also have told her something about myself. If so, you aren't missing anything - just an extremely abridged version of what you've already read.  
  
There was a bit of trouble that night at dinner. Oolong, who had been looking nervous all day, stood up in the middle of the meal. "That's it," he said, "I can't hold it in anymore." What was he talking about? "You know!" he said, pointing at 18. "Her! She can't just stay here!"  
  
He kept cringing as he spoke, as if expecting some attack to come from 18, but she just stared sternly at her plate the whole time. "She's... I mean... she's dangerous! Even the fact that she's on the planet freaks me out, let alone here!"  
  
"Oolong, please--" I started.  
  
"Kuririn, I don't know why you decided to bring her back. Did you see what she did to you? She-"  
  
Roshi-sama interrupted him. "That will be enough, Oolong."  
  
"But-"  
  
"But nothing! Is this my house or isn't it?" He smiled pridefully. "I happen to think that Kuririn is a pretty darn good judge of character. If he says the young lady may stay, she may. End of discussion."  
  
Oolong mumbled an apology and went back to his meal. I looked at Roshi in shock. He winked at me.  
  
Things were somewhat smoother after that. I could tell that 18 was really making an effort now. She started accepting invitations to go out and do things. We went to the mall, to lunch and dinner, and to the bar I used to frequent - anywhere where she could be around people and have some experience dealing with them.   
  
I had a lot of fun. 18 never hesitated to offer her criticisms of society and its many unspoken rules and trappings. Actually, she pointed out some idiosyncrasies that I'd never really noticed.   
  
"So why is it, exactly," she'd say, "That everyone feels it necessary to ask 'how are you?' when they obviously have little interest and know they'll only receive a preconditioned response?"  
  
"You know, I've really got no idea," I'd say.  
  
She would typically roll her eyes and mutter, "Humans," though I could tell that this reaction was becoming increasingly good-natured.  
  
  
  
I think I remember the first time I made her laugh. We were having lunch at the mall. She has this funny way of moving her lips slightly to the right when she's chewing meat.  
  
"So what did you call this?" she said.  
  
"Bourbon Chicken."  
  
"It's good."  
  
I shrugged. "It's not bad for food court food. So, what do you think of the human race so far?"  
  
"They're arrogant," she said, "and selfish and ignorant and stupid... but like you said, not that bad, really. I just don't think I'm fitting in very well."  
  
"Nah," I said, "You're doing fine. Though I have to say, that guy who hit on you last night must have been pretty surprised when you literally put him in his place."  
  
"Hm!" She smiled. "He had it coming. I told him once to go away."  
  
"Yeah," I said, "but I can just imagine him trying to explain it to his buddies." Here I slipped into my impersonation of the unfortunate guy. "No, dude, you don't understand! I mean, this chick, she was STRONG! Hey, come on! It ain't funny!"  
  
18 let out a funny snort of a laugh and brought her hand up to her mouth to stop it.  
  
"Aha," I teased, "Have I managed to elicit a giggle from the big bad unfeeling cyborg? I'm shocked."  
  
"Shut up," she said, and hit me just hard enough for it to hurt.  
  
"Owwww, come on, 18," I whined, but I was smiling. She was smiling too, and that made me feel terrific. Any doubts I had about Trunks' warning had vanished. Maybe his timeline's 18 was a cold-blooded killer, but this one was a much more complex and interesting creature. I've known a lot of cold-blooded killers, but I can't say that I've met many people like 18.  
  
Things settled down pretty quickly back at the Kame House. There wasn't any formal reconciliation or anything, everyone just pretty much got used to each other. There may have been a few incidents, but nothing major. I was surprised by how quickly 18 became just as much a member of the home as the rest of us. As she settled into my former room, I set up a slightly more permanent residence in the attic.  
  
Oh, I almost forgot to mention this. One morning, I noticed 18 looking at me kind of strangely.  
  
"What's wrong?" I said. She indicated my head.  
  
"Oh, ha ha." I ran a hand along my head, which had enough hair to resemble a very short buzz cut. "I guess I've been neglecting to shave my head lately."  
  
She nodded slightly and I thought that was the end of it, even going so far as to make a mental note to do that.  
  
Then, she surprised me. "Don't," she said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't," she repeated, and lowered her eyelashes slightly, giving me a look that I might almost describe as sexy, if I didn't know any better. "You'd look, um... cute with hair."  
  
She immediately moved her attention to something else. I was reeling.  
  
Needless to say, of course, I never shaved my head again.  
  
I didn't know where exactly to place that little anecdote, but I think it makes for a good example of the fact that although things somewhat returned to normal, it was different than before. I think that life at home had changed in a good way. In the least, it's always good to have more company. No matter how much we go out, living in a house on an isolated island adds up to spending an awful lot of time actually living in that house on an isolated island, and it is boring. Conversations with the same two people get repetitive after a while.   
  
18 wasn't very keen on talking at first. She told me that she only spoke when she felt there was something it was necessary for her to say. Before long, however, she was joining in for a point or two, and she was soon frequently talking to us and with us. Hers was the conversation pattern of the person who sits and observes and then comes in with an "Well, the way I see it...", except without the "Well, the way I see it". Her assessments were sometimes harsh, but usually pretty accurate. She didn't have a lot of experience to draw from, but she picked things up quickly. She's always been like that - insanely good at learning things.  
  
You're probably going to think that this is weird or funny or something, but the first thing that attracted me to 18 - the first thing I really came to appreciate about her - was the fact that she took me seriously. Even among my friends (and believe me, I don't mean to say that my friends have treated me badly, because they haven't), I've always felt like I'm taken a little less seriously than most. Maybe it's my own fault. Come to think of it, I probably began to tailor myself to that, to make my input a little oddball or off-kilter, or maybe I just really was that way.   
  
Whatever it was, it was different with 18. I knew by the way she met my eyes when I spoke that she was paying attention. There was something there, some kind of respect. It felt very strange to me, but I gradually started getting more confident. Not just in speech, but in a lot of things. Others had tried to encourage me before, but it had never been quite so strangely effective as was 18's subtle approach.  
  
I guess that brings me to something I've been sort of hiding from you. I admit this as a fault; it isn't fair to you or me. I'm supposed to be laying things out bare. I've alluded to it a couple of times, but never directly brought it out.  
  
It was not an uncommon sight at the Kame House to see me get depressed. And I don't mean just having-a-bad-day, kinda-in-a-bad-mood - I mean really depressed. I usually managed, or thought I managed, to keep people from noticing. I would smile and act my usual self, as if nothing was wrong. What was the point of bothering other people with my stupid crap? Sometimes, when my disguise wasn't holding up very well, I would go so far as to say that nothing was wrong. Sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn't.  
  
It would usually start when I was doing something, or trying to do something, or planning to do something. In the case I'm about to refer to, I was trying to write. I wasn't making an awful lot of progress, and it wasn't turning out very well. Eventually I just read back over what I was working on and let the mental axe drop - this was crap. Unredeemable.  
  
I proceeded from there to realize that I was a terrible writer. This seemed perfectly logical; in fact, it seemed something I had been only half-fooling myself into disbelieving. This dark lump of discontent and self-loathing infected, as it usually did, every part of myself. I was worthless. I was weak and stupid and the gamut of other such descriptors. I had failed at everything important. If I had done certain things differently, Goku would have still been alive; I'd failed Goku. If I were stronger, I could have helped fight Cell; it was my fault I wasn't stronger. And a new feature - I wasn't doing the right thing for 18. She should be somewhere else. She was spending too much time with me, was I actually entertaining some ludicrous hope that she might like me? Please - she was way too good for me. I was a joke.  
  
So I shut down my computer and took a few moments to swallow the rage. I took a few deep breaths to still the shaking. I sat in a chair and attempted to read a book. I was on the same two pages for nearly 15 minutes, so I gave up.  
  
18 spoke to me. "What's the matter with you? You're usually busying yourself with some task or another right now."  
  
I'm just not in the mood, I told her. Gently, pleasantly. Raise the walls.  
  
She asked me again and I sighed. I was starting to develop a major headache.   
  
"I'm just not feeling great about myself right now, okay? That's it. Otherwise I'm fine." Thinking, please go away.  
  
She frowned at me. "I don't understand it," she said.  
  
I mumbled something to the effect that not a lot of people do.  
  
18 seemed to get a little angry. She stepped toward the chair. "Get up."  
  
"What?" This I didn't need. She was bossing me around. "Why?"  
  
Seeing that I wouldn't get up, she picked me up instead, much to my alarm and protest, and placed me on my feet. What was the big idea? I said. What did she think she was--  
  
"Shut up. I'm only going to say this once."  
  
I let my voice trail off.  
  
"And," she said with authority, "You're going to owe me for it, do you understand?"  
  
I gave a confused look. She sighed sharply and tried to put it more clearly.  
  
"Do you think this is easy for me? It isn't. Every word of this hurts me. Do you understand?"  
  
I nodded helplessly.  
  
"Good," she said, allowing a little pause. Then: "You're too good for this."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Shut up! Let me finish!"  
  
I fell obediently silent.  
  
"It's obvious you don't think much of yourself. Do you think I don't notice that you put yourself down in little ways, every chance you get? Sometimes you think you're joking, but it drives me insane. Do you know why?"  
  
I shook my head.  
  
"Because you're saying the opposite of the truth. You're the only human I've met that would be this good. That would treat me this well, despite what I've put you through. You... you're a good person, Kuririn. I know you are."  
  
My heart pounded. I'd never expected to receive such a compliment from 18. I looked up into her eyes - for a moment, she looked confused, almost tender, but she soon resumed her authoritarian stance and her emotionless gaze. "So," she said, "There won't be any more of this. Got it?"  
  
I wanted to say something meaningful, to make some use of the powerful feelings inside me then. "Yes," I said.  
  
"Good," she said, and promptly turned and left me there.  
  
I lolled back in my chair, numb from the shock of it. For once, I knew there was no question of the truth in her words. I stood up and found that I actually felt quite better. I took an objective look at myself. I may not be the cleverest or strongest person, I thought, but I realized that I had become important to someone.  
  
"18," I thought. I felt for her a deep respect and... something else. She had said this for me, and I knew it could not have been easy. In the couple of months she'd been with us, she had become a lot better at conversation, but whenever the topic had turned to feelings, she became strangely quiet. She could find few words, and she fidgeted with her foot and looked very anxious until the subject was changed. For me, she had broken that silence for the first time.  
  
She was right: I did owe her. Sitting there in the partially lit attic late in the evening, I just wished I knew how I'd ever manage to repay this debt.  
  
---  
  
part III  
  
I'll admit I was a bit nervous as we walked up to the entrance of Yamucha's palatial home. He was a good guy and usually quite reasonable, but I was nervous nonetheless.  
  
I'd been avoiding my friends for far too long. I'd talked to some of them on the phone, neatly skirting around the issue that I didn't have the nerve to bring up. Roshi-sama had told me that I wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. 18 had been a bit more direct.  
  
"What is it?" she'd said. "Are you ashamed of me?"  
  
"No!" I'd said; I was telling the truth. Not ashamed, just fearful. I just kept seeing the disgust and disbelief in everyone's eyes back at the lookout. But she was right - I was just being stupid. There was no good reason for my attempting to keep her a secret.   
  
So, both of us were standing there waiting for Yamucha to answer the door. That's the funny thing about Yamucha's place - he's never hired any help as most people with those kind of homes do. He's just never felt comfortable with that, he says, and he and Pu'ar get by fine. The effect of that is that you'll sometimes stand there for a good two minutes waiting for him to open the door.  
  
"Hey," he said, "Kuririn! It's been... oh." He looked at 18. He looked nervous momentarily, but I saw him suppress it. "18, right?"  
  
She looked at him a little strangely at first too, but shook it off. "Yes," she said. "Hi."  
  
"Hi..." he said a bit distantly. Then, with more fervor, "Well, come on in!"  
  
"Hey, Pu'ar-chan," he shouted as we walked in, "We've got guests!"  
  
In a corner of the room, I saw a broom turn into a cat and nod. She floated over to us. "Hello, Kuririn. Who's this?"  
  
18 sweatdropped. "Wasn't that cat a broom a minute ago?"  
  
Fortunately, that was a short explanation, having been preceded by one explaining Oolong's much more infrequent transformations.  
  
We sat in a sofa in the... shoot, is it the lobby? Yamucha would know better than I would; I never could get straight which room of his house was called what. Anyway, we sat there and drank a bit of wine. Yamucha brought me up to date on a bunch of current affairs with the Son family and Bulma. Apparently Vegeta was living in Bulma's estate at Capsule Corp HQ full time now. Yamucha was of the opinion that the two of them had fallen in love, though every time you saw them they were arguing.  
  
I couldn't help but be amused. "You know, they are perfect for each other," I said.  
  
He touched on a few more issues - for example, "Hey, are you growing your hair out?", but he wasn't really neglecting 18, even though he was speaking to me. He even offered her little explanations of things she might not have known a lot about, which I have do admit she didn't, as I hadn't talked a whole lot to her about my friends. Actually, aside from that initial moment of nervousness, Yamucha was amazingly cool about 18; I was relieved. There was only one moment that was really uncomfortable.  
  
"So," he said, "I guess you two hooked up after all."  
  
I nodded. "18's been living with me for a couple of months now."  
  
"Oh," said Yamucha, "Are you guys...?" He moved his index finger from 18 to I and back, denoting a specific kind of connection.   
  
We were very embarrassed. 18 and I involuntarily moved about a foot apart. I rubbed the back of my neck gingerly.  
  
"Ah, no," I said. "It's not like that."  
  
"Oh," he said, "I'm sorry. It was rude of me to ask like that."  
  
There was a bit of an uncomfortable pause.  
  
"I've never been in a place like this before," said 18. "I'd like to see the rest of it."  
  
Yamucha was, as they say, more than happy to comply. "Sure. I'll give you the tour."  
  
He guided us through his home. His comments were pretty brief, really. On a sort of ballroom - "I've had some pretty major parties here. There's a lot of food, a lot of drinks, and some dancing. I've had more than a couple hundred guests. There are names I could drop, but you probably don't care that much about that."  
  
18 shrugged. "Yeah," he said, "Neither do I, really. I don't know. Parties like that can be really fun, but I don't like to have them too often. You tend to feel kind of burned out and alone after them. Well, I do." He smiled. "It's better to have a couple of friends over. Like this."  
  
18 was taking in the views - the place is well decorated, not too extravagant but enough to be impressive and pretty. "This is quite a place," 18 said. "How do you have a house like this?"  
  
"I know," said Yamucha. "Believe me, it never stops amazing me how much money they'll pay me to hit a ball with a stick. I keep wondering if it's some kind of trick, like they're going to come over any day now and say that the trick is over, Yamucha, you can go back to being a desert rat now. They never do, though. It's unbelievable."  
  
We were almost through when our attention lit upon a wooden rack holding a large sheathed blade.  
  
"What's this?" said 18. "Some kind of weapon?"  
  
"My old sword," said Yamucha, admiring it. "I've had it for a very long time. I used to be pretty good. Haven't used it in years, though."  
  
"Were you using it," she asked, "When you got..."   
  
"Oh, the scars," said Yamucha, touching one of them with his fingertips. "Yeah. I haven't used it since then."  
  
"You never told me how that happened," I said.  
  
He nodded. "I'm sorry, Kuririn. It's private. I never tell anyone that story."  
  
"I know how it happened," said Pu'ar, floating into the room.   
  
"That's true," he said, "But you aren't telling anyone either." She nodded primly.  
  
18 looked very concerned. "It must be terrible to have those scars out where everyone can see them. I'm sorry."  
  
"Oh, I've had them for so long now that I'm used to it. So are most of my friends," he said, nodding at me. "The worst is when I meet new people and they stare at them. It feels like an invasion to have their eyes on my wounds. I wonder what they're thinking about me."  
  
"Yes," said 18. "I know what you mean."  
  
Yamucha shrugged. "It's not that bad, really. It's something that sets me apart. I mean, I'd get rid of it if I could, but I've learned to live with it. Anyway, anybody who stays focused on it very long is shallow and not worth dealing with, right?"  
  
I was surprised. Yamucha didn't usually open up like that to people he'd just met. Neither did 18.  
  
Yamucha took the sword off the rack and out of its sheath. He reminisced a little about his days in the desert. "So, 18," he said, having gotten comfortable, "Why don't you tell me something about your past?"  
  
She faltered. "My past?"  
  
"Oh," I said, "Yamucha, you have to understand... their memories were wiped out by Dr. Gero. She doesn't remember her life up to that point."  
  
Yamucha looked a little sick. "That's... awful..."   
  
"I can't imagine it," said Pu'ar. "Having your past taken away..." She came over to 18 and placed a paw upon her shoulder.  
  
"No," said 18. She lifted her head back up. "I have a past. I stayed with my brother in the forest for a month or so, and then I came to live with Kuririn. Since then, he's been showing me a lot of things. I'm not quite used to it all, but I think I'm starting to get my bearings."  
  
"That's a good attitude, 18," said Pu'ar. "You're making a new past."  
  
Yamucha nodded. "Yeah, it's admirable." He looked at his sword. "Maybe sometimes we're a little too dependent on memories." He put it back on the wall. "After all, where would we be without the present?"  
  
We stayed for a while. We had a good time, and the conversation was lighter after that. Yamucha and 18 seemed to have hit it off, which was good. Even better, Yamucha promised us that he'd take care of the others. Yeah, he said, some of them wouldn't be too happy to hear about 18, but he was sure they'd get over it. "Look at Vegeta, for Kami's sake," he said. "If we can tolerate him, I'm not too worried about you, 18."  
  
"I like him," 18 said of Yamucha on the way home. "You have a good friend."  
  
"Yeah," I agreed. "Yamucha's a great guy. We go way back."  
  
We were silent for a while.   
  
"Uh, so," I said. "It was pretty awkward when he asked that... about us."  
  
"Yes," she agreed. "It was."  
  
We were silent for the rest of the way.  
  
I was angry with myself. After all of the good things that had happened in our visit, why did I keep returning to that? Yet, my thoughts kept going back to it again and again, no matter how many times I tried to turn them away.  
  
In a later phone call, Yamucha told me that 18 seemed like a very nice girl, but I should still remember what he said. "All I mean is, don't do anything unless you're sure." I told him not to worry.  
  
I was sitting at a table in a little restaurant and cafe with 18 some time later. We were only having drinks and some bread that we'd already eaten.   
  
I sipped slowly and deliberately, trying to think of something to say. Our conversations had been less lively as of late. The wisecracks, the studied observation from 18, the happy chatter from me - all of them were pretty much gone. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy our outings anymore. I did. I'd never had so much fun.  
  
"Come on," I urged myself. "Just say something to her." Stealing a few glances at her eyes between meditative stares into my glass, I planned to make some comment about Muten Roshi and Oolong's proposed trip to the Papaya Islands to see a bikini contest. I looked up at her and got ready to speak, but- My God, she was beautiful.   
  
She was wearing a floral summer dress with these little straps that showed off her shoulders very nicely - she had been very pale, but she was acquiring more of a tan now. She was twisting her straw absentmindedly. I don't want to spoil my description with ludicrous romanticising or comparisons to angels, but she really was looking amazing to me that day. So amazing that it made me uncomfortable. Had I been a different person just a few weeks ago when I'd talked to her so easily? Had she?   
  
"I've been thinking," she said, "About what I might want to do with my life."  
  
"Oh? Are you interested in something in particular?" I found myself wishing that something would come up that amused or pleased her just so that I could see her smile again. 'Cute', I had thought of that smile. What was I thinking - it was golden. When I saw her smile, it felt like some kind of warm, gratifying feeling poured into my heart...  
  
Focus. Reality. Focus.  
  
"Well," she said, and sighed. "No. I don't know. Nothing's really caught my interest yet. I feel like I should get a job. You know, maybe I could earn some money."  
  
"Sure," I said, "If you want to."  
  
She held eye contact with me. Her straw cracked from having been bent one time too many.  
  
"Maybe if you saved enough you could get a place for yourself," I suggested. "Not have to share a house on some remote island with us weird hermits."  
  
"Maybe... But then, all of the good jobs seem to need a college degree."  
  
"That's sort of true," I said. "You know, if you wanted to, I'm sure you could go to college."  
  
She rested her cheek in her hand, considering this and causing her body to shift slightly over the table. "...I don't know," she said.  
  
Our eyes wouldn't meet for a little while. Somewhere inside of me, I felt a dull reverberation: thud, thud, thud. Then, I looked at her and smiled wistfully.  
  
"I'll get the check," I said.  
  
That's a pretty accurate portrait of that period. 18 and I had been getting closer and closer before, and there seemed to be no limit. Then, suddenly, rudely, there was. It had started with a few scattered incidents: The misunderstanding at Yamucha's, and this one occasion where we were sitting together and I'd, purely by accident, touched her leg. I'd apologized sincerely, and she said not to worry about it, but I was worrying about it. I was drunk from the contact, the forbiddenness of it. I scolded myself harshly and forced myself not to sit next to her for quite a while.  
  
Now we seemed hopelessly far apart, but I felt more than ever a yearning to be close to her. I missed happier times, when we'd felt like conspirators or compatriots, and I would prod the occasional laugh or smile out of her. Or sometimes she would just roll her eyes at my foolishness and affectionately call me an idiot. I had been having so much fun then. Yet, deep down I knew that not even that would be enough anymore. I wanted something else.  
  
I tried to work it out of me. I stared piercingly at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. I am not in love, I told it. I didn't want to be in love. It just wouldn't work at all.  
  
Well, asked my reflection with its big, innocent eyes, why not?  
  
Why not? Was I insane? It wasn't fair, for starters. She had much less experience with the world than I. More importantly, she didn't feel the same way about me, I felt sure. If I said or tried anything, all I would end up doing was messing everything up and making her so uncomfortable that she'd leave, and be on her own again, now with a doubtless soured opinion of humanity - so I'd been using her after all. So, it was out of the question. I had to get rid of this feeling somehow. Yet it resisted all of my attempts without budging an inch. If anything, it grew stronger. What was wrong with me? Why did I have to be like this? I demanded this of my reflection, which looked back at me with similar accusation.  
  
It was easier during the day. I could manage to walk the beam, to be nice to her without being too nice. However, she seemed to be having some problems of her own. She acted distant to me.  
  
A few days later she wouldn't come to dinner. I knocked on the door to her room later. She told me that I could come in.  
  
"Hey, 18," I said. "What are you doing?"  
  
She was sitting on the bed and staring at the wall. "Thinking," she said. "And looking over my dat-" She turned to face me. "Damn. I shouldn't have said that."  
  
"What? Your data, were you going to say?"  
  
She nodded hesitantly. "I have the capacity... I mean, I can record things. Store them. I still do, sometimes."  
  
Saying this seemed to make her very upset. She massaged her temples with her hand.   
  
"Hey," I said, "There's nothing wrong with that. A lot of people probably wish they could take down their thoughts like that. You don't have to forget anything."  
  
"It isn't like that," she said. "It's stripped down to the important things. Or... of the important things, depending on how you look at it."  
  
She was crying. I wanted to comfort her, but I held back for a moment. Then I thought, "Damn the consequences, the woman is upset," and I sat down next to her and put my hand on her shoulder. I hoped it was comforting.   
  
"Do you know," she said, "What the worst part of being a cyborg is?"   
  
"Oh, 18..."  
  
"When I look at you, I'm actually viewing through a display. It provides various vital information, like heart rate, identity, and..." She cut herself off.  
  
"You can tell me," I said. "It's okay."  
  
"...and sometimes, when I forget to turn it off... targeting. It even... it makes suggestions as to the best place to attack."   
  
She huddled forward, shaking. In that moment, I hated Dr. Gero and loved Number 18.  
  
I put my arm around her back and held her. I told her that it would be all right, that we'd work it out, that that stupid display didn't mean anything.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Why? You don't have anything to be sorry about. Come on..."  
  
"I can't," she said, and stood up. "I'm sorry, but I can't."  
  
She walked straight out of the room, and then she was running and I was running after her. "Wait!" I cried. "18!" She lit out the door and took off flying immediately. I did the same.  
  
I put as much power as I could manage into my flight, but she was too fast for me and soon left me behind. I lost her in the dark and the rain, for it was storming. I flew for a bit in the direction I thought she'd gone and called her name a few times, but it was no good. I returned dejectedly to the Kame House.  
  
Oolong greeted me there. "Hey, hey," he said, "You're soaked. Where's 18?"  
  
"I don't know," I said. "She just left."  
  
"Ooh. That's harsh."  
  
I nodded mournfully. "I'm worried about her."  
  
The pig regarded me for a few moments.   
  
"Hey," he said, "You're pretty sweet on her, aren't you?"  
  
I pondered being defensive, but gave it up and just nodded.  
  
"I thought so... Why don't you tell her?"  
  
"I can't," I told him. "It wouldn't work out."  
  
Oolong shrugged. "Well, I guess I don't know everything about it, and I'm hardly an expert. But kid, trust me... she's crazy about you."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Come on, man... don't you see the way she looks at you? It's so obvious."  
  
Now that he mentioned it, I recalled her glancing at me many times with an uncertain expression... it was almost admiring, now that I thought of it. I turned away.  
  
"Well, like I said, I don't know a lot about women or relationships... but it seems to me like all you both need to be happy is to just admit that to each other. Maybe I'm wrong, but I kinda doubt it. And maybe you don't have to do anything right away, but, ahhh, how do I say this... ya never know when you're goin' to run out of time."  
  
I looked at him. Here was a place I'd never expected to get my encouraging push from.   
  
"Well," he said, "Whatever you're gonna do, good luck. I'm goin' to bed. I've done my bit."  
  
Oolong was right, I realized. I looked out the window and wondered if it wasn't too late already. She'd left now... what if she kept going? What if I never saw her again?  
  
After the rain cleared up, I went outside and sat on the beach, watching the night sky.  
  
About an hour later, there was a thunk halfway down the island. A shape resolved itself.  
  
"Hey," I said.  
  
"I'm sorry," said 18. "That was cowardly."  
  
"Nah, don't worry about it. Come on, sit with me."  
  
She kept talking as she sat down. "I don't even know where I thought I was going. I can be so unreasonable sometimes..."  
  
"Shh," I said, "Forget it. Look at the stars."  
  
She did. So did I. You can see them so well from here.   
  
I was thinking of how I would bring it up to 18. Then didn't seem like a great time because she might still be upset, but at the same time I was afraid if I didn't do it soon, I would lose the courage. Despite what Oolong had said, I still wasn't sure. The fear of rejection was still there - I couldn't manage the nerve to believe that she felt that way about me.  
  
18 was fidgeting with her foot again. More than usual.  
  
"Kuririn," she said, "I have to tell you something."  
  
"Sure. Go ahead."  
  
"And if you want me to leave after I've said it, I'll understand. I won't say anything, I'll turn around and go back the way I just came. All right?"  
  
"Uh... sure."  
  
She grabbed my hand then and held it tightly. So tightly, she might have injured a normal person.  
  
"Kuririn... I... I love you."  
  
I looked at her in disbelief.  
  
"I mean," she said, "I think that's what this has to be. I don't know, but it can't be normal to want to be with someone this much."  
  
I just kept looking at her, into her eyes. I was too deliriously happy to speak.  
  
"...Damn, I've screwed it up, haven't I?"  
  
"No." I gripped her hand back. "I love you too, 18."  
  
She looked shocked. "You do?"  
  
"Yes," I said, and "Yes" again. I didn't know what else to say.  
  
I think we simultaneously let out a sigh of relief. It felt like I'd been holding in that breath for a long time.  
  
"So... we're in love, then."  
  
"Yeah." The world seemed to be spinning around me too quickly to justify.  
  
"What happens now?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Her palm was cold, but there was warmth coming into it. I traced it with my thumb. She did the same to mine, and we were soon conducting a kind of exploration of each other's hand. It was so silly, but it felt like the best thing I'd ever done.  
  
"Hey, 18," I said. "Would you mind..." I felt dizzy. "...if I moved a little closer to you?"  
  
She didn't say anything. After a moment, she moved closer to me.   
  
Now, we were touching. It felt incredible. Physically, it wasn't that great - she was soaked, after all - but, man, we'd just admitted we loved each other, and now we were touching. Maybe I'm immature, but that felt amazing to me.  
  
For a moment I was nervous, wondering if I should say something, and how to say it, and whether I should make some kind of move or whether that would be inappropriate. But then that nervousness just evaporated and I felt totally relaxed. Life was good.  
  
18 smiled at me - a confused, tentative little smile that I loved - and looked away, blushing a bit.   
  
For once, I wasn't worried about anything, not even the possible troubles in our coming relationship. I just knew myself and my love, and life from here on looked pretty good.  
  
--END OF CHAPTER THIRTY-- 


	31. What Happens Now

~Chapter 31: What Happens Now~  
  
part I  
  
I woke up feeling generally cheerful. When I saw 18 that morning, I felt overcome with an urge to embrace her immediately.  
  
I chuckled at myself. Slow down, Romeo.  
  
I told her good morning; she returned it without special inflection and without any affectionate gestures. But her eyes met mine and the look there was knowing, sharing. It told me that she hadn't forgotten about the night before.  
  
I went through my morning charged and energetically greeted Roshi and Oolong, even going out to the beach to say good morning to Umigame, who commented that I seemed especially happy this morning.   
  
I didn't say anything to anyone about what 18 and I had shared the night before. I figured I'd save it for breakfast, bringing it up only when prompted so that I wouldn't seem too eager, as I was sure I had with Maron. Oolong provided me with my cue early on in the meal.  
  
"So," he said, "Kuririn, 18; you guys seemed pretty upset last night. Everything's resolved now, huh?"  
  
"Well," I began.  
  
"Yes," said 18, not looking up from her place. "I was having a problem, but now... it isn't a problem anymore. We've gotten it worked out."  
  
"Really? Uh... is that it?" said Oolong. He was responding to 18, but looking at me.  
  
"Uh," I said. Confused, I searched 18 for answers. She gave me a steady look. What in the world was going on?  
  
"Yeah," I finally said. "Yeah, that's it. We've got it worked out." My eyes sunk into my plate, and I felt confused and vaguely betrayed. My energy seemed to have been suddenly extinguished.  
  
"Good, good, glad to hear it," said Roshi. "It's so uneasy around here when you young people are upset."  
  
"Uh-huh," I replied. I felt in a steep downward spiral, plunging into oblivion.  
  
I washed all of the dirty dishes in the house that morning with a bit more attention than necessary, holding each item up to the light for inspection. I was dizzy from the thoughts ricocheting around my brain - what the hell was going on? Did I imagine last night? No, that's stupid. Then, did I imagine the meaning behind 18's eye contact just an hour or two ago? Was it just going to be like nothing ever happened? All of the relief and release I'd felt seemed to come crashing horribly down. I struggled to control my strength and not break the dishes.  
  
Nearby, 18 told Oolong that she was going out for a bit. "Oh... okay," he said, slightly puzzled.   
  
Just before she went out the door, 18 looked at me. I glared desperately back.  
  
In a tiny, almost imperceptible motion of her head, 18 indicated for me to follow her, then left.  
  
I finished washing the dish I was holding, neatly stacked it, walked calmly to the door and went outside, then began to fly. I met her in the air.  
  
We landed on the first convenient piece of ground we came upon. She stood with her back to me, arms folded.  
  
"You probably don't think a lot of me right now," she said.  
  
"Why, 18? Why did you lie?"  
  
Turning toward me, she snapped, "I did not lie."  
  
I sighed. "You know what I mean."  
  
"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't mean to deny anything between us. Please understand that. I want this to be, Kuririn. I really want to have this with you."  
  
The way she said it was so tender that I couldn't help but be amazed at its honesty. My anger faded.   
  
"It makes me so happy to hear you say that, 18," I said. "But... why do you want to hide it?"  
  
"It isn't that," she said, returning to her normal tone of voice. "I just don't think I'm ready for that kind of attention. I know that when a human gets a girlfriend, their friends are... I don't know... curious. That would feel very strange for me. I don't think I'm ready."  
  
I frowned. "We probably won't be able to hide it for long."  
  
"Just be patient with me, and I'll work myself up to it. Then, you can tell anyone you want. Just wait a while first. Please."  
  
I couldn't refuse. I knew this was important to her, and as she looked at me I felt as passionate about her as I had when she told me that she loved me. "Sure," I said. "We'll keep it between us for a while. It's no big deal."  
  
She nodded, and then to my great surprise, hugged me. I put my arms around her and pressed my face against hers. We held each other for several seconds. It felt wonderful.  
  
I was surprised, actually, by how little 18's request bothered me. I think that I started to understand then what real love is about. I mean, with Maron it was all about appearances, and I would have had a fit if I hadn't been able to show her off. With 18, though, that just didn't seem so important. I guess that I did look forward to telling my friends (in a mixed way, as I was sure their reactions would be mixed), but this hardly seemed central to the relationship. Nor was I especially concerned with love as an achievement, so that I would not have to feel when the end was coming that I'd done nothing with my life. All that I really cared about was 18, and the closeness I felt to her. I guess that's the best way I can describe love - closeness. I felt very close to her, and this was gratifying, like something that I desperately needed.  
  
So, we kept it under the radar for a couple of weeks. It was a bit of a hassle, but not too bad. It wasn't difficult - I mean, it's not like anyone was scheming to discover us or anything.  
  
18 told me after a while that I could let people know now, if I wanted. "Just don't make a big deal out of it," she said. I told Roshi-sama and Oolong that evening. They seemed to approve. I didn't tell anyone else just yet.  
  
So, I guess our relationship had officially started at that point. We didn't really know where to take it from there - most people start dating, but that's basically what we'd already been doing for a couple of months. We just took every opportunity we'd get to talk alone, and that seemed to work. We found a spot in the mountains (I'm not saying where, after all, we still go there!) that was really nice and peaceful. It's great, you know, to be able to fly pretty much anywhere on the planet you want. If I'm ever feeling constricted, I can just fly off somewhere for a while.  
  
We used to go out there a couple of times a week. It's become more like once every couple of months now, but it's still nice. We lie down among the grass and talk sometimes, or sometimes just relax and not say much.  
  
One of the first times we were there, I asked 18 why she'd kissed me the first time we met.  
  
"I'll tell you," she said, "if you'll tell me why you destroyed the remote."  
  
Wow, that was a jolt to me. I hadn't thought of that in quite a while. I remembered my struggle over that, how painful and hard it had been. It seemed to be in another dimension by that time.  
  
"You seemed like a good person," I said.  
  
"I beat up your friends," she said. "I was going to kill Goku."  
  
"Yeah, but I wasn't really feeling that. I mean... you never felt like a bad person to me. That, and I thought you were pretty."  
  
She nodded thoughtfully. "All right, but my reason isn't going to sound so noble. You looked harmless and I thought it'd be fun to mess with you."  
  
"Oh." I have to admit, I was a little disappointed.  
  
"And," she added, "I thought you were cute."  
  
I laughed. "I was funny-looking!"  
  
"In a good way." She was smiling a little.  
  
I laughed again. "You know, it's kind of funny that that's the only time we've kissed."  
  
She sat up. "Is it?"  
  
I grew a little shy at this, surprised at how seriously she'd taken it. "Well," I said, "you have to admit that the circumstances were pretty weird."  
  
"You know... You could kiss me now if you wanted to."  
  
I stared at her, blankly astonished, for a few seconds. The next thing that I remember, we were kissing.  
  
The kiss was a little hesitant and slow at first, but it was very passionate - I felt that kiss, I felt it somewhere as I pressed my lips back against hers and placed my hand lightly on her back. She ran her hand through my hair and cradled the back of my head in her palm, holding me there. Everything felt right in my universe, then. Everything was just as it should be.  
  
After we pulled away, she said to me, breathing a little heavily, "That definitely felt different than before."  
  
"Yeah," I said. "Maybe that's what it feels like when you mean it."  
  
After that, I think I told her that I loved her again. She said that she knew I did.  
  
That kiss felt like an overwhelming moment to me. For a while afterward, when I looked at her I'd remember having shared that with her. What can I say, it felt good.  
  
I hadn't seen Goku's family in months, so I figured I'd pay them a visit. I guess it was one of those ideas that just struck me, so I didn't call or anything. It was just one of those spontaneous things. Surprisingly, it was Gohan who eventually answered the door.   
  
"Oh... It's you, Kuririn."  
  
"Yep! Man, Gohan, I can't get over how big you're getting! Looks like I have to deal with being the shortest fighter around again."  
  
"Cut it out," he said, embarrassed. "Um... I guess you can come in, for a minute."  
  
Gohan was home alone. He told me to sit at the kitchen table and made me a sandwich. He was such a nice kid.  
  
We talked for a little while. He was busy, as usual. I think he told me he'd been to Capsule Corp recently.  
  
I asked Gohan when his mother would be getting back. He got kind of nervous, as I recall.  
  
"Kuririn... you've got to understand about my mother. She's really a good person."  
  
"What are you talking about, Gohan?"  
  
"It's just that sometimes she can really hold a grudge." He struggled for words. "I mean... she's just trying to protect her family. It's really hard for her."  
  
I stared at him idiotically, not getting it.  
  
"I... uh... Hey, we heard that you were seeing 18!"  
  
I nodded. "I haven't told everyone yet, but she's become my girlfriend."  
  
Gohan smiled. "I'm really happy for you. I always knew you'd find somebody. I hope you guys get married and have a bunch of kids!"  
  
I probably rubbed the back of my neck and laughed nervously. It's what I usually do.  
  
If not then, then soon after that, Chichi got home. She was starting to look rather pregnant. She would not make eye contact with me. She had a lot of groceries and supplies but wouldn't let me help. She told me to leave.  
  
"Chichi," I said stupidly, "what...?"  
  
"It is not my business what you do on your own time, Kuririn." The forced politeness made every word grate. "But you are now in my home and I have the right to ask you to leave."  
  
Gohan started to get angry, but I cut him off. "It's okay," I said, "I'll go. Catch you later, Gohan."  
  
I can't blame her, really. It'd been not even half a year since Cell, and the fear was hard to forget. We were so terrified of the cyborgs. Their power was incredible, we'd been worrying about them for years, and they threatened to kill Goku. You can't blame her at all for being hostile, especially having lost her husband.  
  
But, you know, it hurt. Really hurt. I was miserable. I'd finally befriended Chichi after all the years we'd known each other, and I'd become closer than ever to Gohan, and now I faced being barred from seeing Goku's family altogether. It really does happen - people develop feuds that they carry for the rest of their lives, and over much pettier things than who threatened to kill whom. It's what I'd feared, in the back of my mind, ever since 18 came to stay with me at the Kame House.  
  
18 and I actually went out on the first thing you could construe as a "date" for ages that evening. It was standard dinner-and-a-movie fare, way out of the ordinary for us. I had a pretty good time, but I wasn't really happy.  
  
18, as always, was perceptive. "What's the matter with you?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"I thought we were beyond lying to each other."  
  
That one is hard to dodge. I told her about Chichi. She pointed out that she hadn't really done anything to her, so I had to explain how she and her brother had been hyped up to us as evil abominations. I tried not to be so harsh as Trunks, but she was understandably shocked.  
  
"I'd never thought about that before... At the beginning, I suppose we would have been capable of that. It wouldn't have seemed any different from anything else to us. It's hard to believe now..."  
  
"I've never believed it." A lie, but I was trying to reassure her.  
  
"Anyway," she said, "that explains why everyone's so uncomfortable around me..."  
  
I felt badly for making her upset, so I told her that I'd been blowing the problem out of proportion and that everyone would get used to her soon enough, and as I said it I realized that I was probably right - I had blown it out of proportion. We'd accepted others before who'd been actual threats to the world, rather than merely perceived ones. However, she just asked me to tell her more about Trunks's time.  
  
"There isn't that much to tell. He said there were only a few thousand left."  
  
18 looked kind of angry. "What a terrible, senseless waste."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
We didn't say anything for a minute. She rested her head on the heel of her hand and closed her eyes. Then, she looked at me.  
  
"I don't know how you can live with me knowing that. How do you know I won't revert to type?" Said simply and boldly - a challenge.  
  
"Come on, 18, that's just ridiculous."  
  
Maybe, she said, but didn't it disgust me - me, such a moral, heroic person - to know that she had such potential? Didn't it nip at me a little every now and then, make me wince?  
  
I sighed. Paused.  
  
"I've thought about it before, 18. And yeah, I've winced once or twice. But the plain fact I always come back to is that you aren't a serial killer - you're a good and loving person. And the way I see it, what someone really is is a hell of a lot more important than what they just might have been."  
  
For a moment, she seriously considered this. Then, she broke out into a smile and leaned forward.  
  
"You always say the right thing, God damn you."  
  
That month, we had lunch with Bulma and a couple of other friends. Bulma said to me over the phone, "You guys are the only real friends I have - I think we should see each other more often." True, and it gave me a chance to introduce 18 to everyone. I was kind of nervous, but it needed to happen sooner or later.  
  
Everyone from the Kame House went. Yamucha was busy (baseball season) and couldn't make it, but Gohan was to come a little later. We met Bulma at some restaurant in East Capital, nothing special. I have to say it was fun seeing Bulma. She had that same startlingly frank manner and that same irrepressible determination - it can be refreshing. By this time, I'd come to consider her one of my closest friends.  
  
Her hair was up and kind of a mess. "Sorry I don't look quite like the astonishingly beautiful genius you remember," - she winked - "but things've been pretty hectic lately." I've no doubt it was true - she was in the process of taking the reins at Capsule Corp at that time, and Capsule Corp itself had just come under contract with the King's Peacekeeping Force, who'd been badly shaken by the whole Cell affair. Little Trunks was there too. He was something like a year and a half old then. He stared at us, spoke, though not very verbally, to his mom, and generally messed around with whatever was in reach. Bulma stopped to correct him every so often. ("Vegeta was supposed to watch him today," she complained.) Pretty cute kid.  
  
I introduced 18. Bulma was pretty nice about it. She congratulated us on our relationship, asked us how things had been going. Pretty good, we said. I asked how things were between her and Vegeta. "Oh, he's taken to pretending to ignore me. It's his latest phase. I can get him to cut it out by yelling at him a little." I nodded and wiped the sweatdrop away with my napkin.  
  
"So, you and 18 must have been going out for a few months now."  
  
"Well, not exactly. She's been staying with us for a while, but our 'relationship' didn't actually start until a little over a month ago..."  
  
"Yeah," said Oolong, "but you could tell it from real early on. It was pretty easy to see they were attracted to each other."  
  
"Mmm..." said Bulma. "Hey, 18. How do you really feel about Kuririn?"  
  
I noticed almost immediately that it was the same question Bulma had asked Maron a few years earlier. The parallel was scary - I couldn't help but be a bit nervous. Fortunately, things went better that time.  
  
"He's the kindest human I've ever met, and we're in love." 18 was a bit uncomfortable to be presenting our relationship for evaluation like that - to be honest, so was I - but it made me feel good to hear it. I took her hand. She moved our hands under the table, and then squeezed back.  
  
"Sounds good," said Bulma with a wry smile, and it was on to other topics. I felt like we'd just cleared a big hurdle.  
  
Bulma was catching up with Oolong (and we may have been eating - we did eat) when Gohan finally showed up. Chichi had come with him. I wasn't that surprised.  
  
"Um," said Gohan, "Sorry I'm late. Hi, Bulma-san... Kuririn..."  
  
"You," said Chichi. Obviously speaking to 18.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're the android, aren't you."  
  
"Something like that. You must be the Saiyan's wife."  
  
Okay, for those who are keeping score, that was just the introduction and both parties have already said something offensive. Uncomfortable doesn't begin to describe the situation.  
  
Chichi began to get violently upset, but Bulma cut in - "Lady, you might have a problem, but this is my lunch with my friends and I do NOT need you making a scene" - and she reduced herself to simmeringly upset.  
  
Chichi began to vent at 18. The first few things she said were pretty founded, but after that, she lost direction. She talked about all her family'd been through, and those torturous few years of waiting, and Cell, and culminated with a How dare you show your face around here after all you've caused. 18 gave me a look - "What could I possibly say that would satisfy this woman?" I wasn't much help.  
  
Finally, 18 tried to explain herself. "I'm sorry," she said, "for my brother's and my behavior. We were acting on all we knew, which was almost nothing. It was foolish, and I do apologize for that. I'm also sorry for threatening to kill your husband. But you cannot expect me to apologize for your fear - I can't help what I am - and I will not apologize for anything that Cell did, because that is Cell's responsibility, not mine. Don't be unreasonable."  
  
This, of course, only set Chichi off even more. "How dare you take that tone with me?" she began, and started her attack anew. We were on the verge of a scene.  
  
Finally, 18 lost her composure somewhat. "Look-- Look. Please. For whatever it's worth, I never meant you or your family any harm."  
  
Chichi stopped.  
  
She froze with her hand over her mouth for a minute.  
  
"Oh... I'm so sorry. I've just... It's just been so hard, and you seemed like a part of it. You haven't done anything to deserve this. I'm..."  
  
She started to cry. Now we did have a scene, but no one cared anymore. Muten Roshi-sama comforted her, and we left the restaurant to get some fresh air.  
  
"...I'm all right now," said Chichi. "I'm sorry. I'm just an old fool."  
  
"Nonsense," said Roshi. "If anything, you're a very young fool."  
  
That cheered her up considerably. I think we all did a good job of making her feel like we were all friends and only wanted to help.  
  
When I finally asked if she was still angry at 18, she said, "No. There's so much tragedy already without turning away potential friends." They even shook hands.  
  
And that was it. No bitter feuds, no over-the-top scenes. When it came down to it, Chichi wasn't really that unreasonable - she was just a woman in a lot of pain. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you remember that people are just people, and people can be talked to.  
  
"That was really good," I said to 18 afterward.  
  
"It was hard. I had to be... Just tell me it won't be this hard every time we see your friends."  
  
"Nah. It should be pretty much smooth sailing from here on."  
  
I did see the others more often after that. Not regularly by any means, but a lot more often.  
  
18 and I attended one of Yamucha's baseball games and met him afterward. That was pretty fun - I hadn't been to a baseball game since I was 14 or 15.  
  
We (sometimes just I) were over at the Son House a few times. They were doing better. There was a big feeling of expectancy - there always is when there's a baby coming. I took Gohan fishing once. He seemed almost back to his old self - I hadn't seen him smile so much since before Cell.  
  
We even went to Capsule Corp a couple of times, but 18 wasn't really comfortable there. They were way too interested in her. She said that it reminded her of Gero. Actually, a couple of people were somewhat interested in me as well. Around that time, our adventures were starting to be discovered by the public, and there was a lot of curiosity about the source and nature of our power. I didn't subject to any tests at that time out of respect for 18, but I eventually would.  
  
Bulma told 18 that they still had the blueprints for her and her brother, in case she were ever interested in seeing them. She did seem quite interested, but she declined.  
  
"I was afraid," she told me later.  
  
"Of what?"  
  
"Of finding out just how much of me is real."  
  
Inevitably, 18 met Vegeta, who seemed content to gloat and talk down to her. 18, however, refused to be talked down to, so neither one gained much ground. He did call her a "trash puppet", which hurt. "Choose your battles," I told myself.  
  
Muten Roshi-sama's occupation at that time was poker. He got interested in it in low-stakes games on the Internet, and eventually started qualifying for tournaments. He really was good - I'm something of a poker player myself, and he always annihilates me. He's just so creepy and nonchalant it makes you paranoid. Also, his bluffs are insane. "When you're as old as me, you don't worry about these things so much," he told me once.  
  
The funny thing is that, when he started going to the tournaments, he re-adopted his Jackie Chun persona, fake hair and all. Building up the reputation, you know, he said.  
  
18 was less than impressed. "That's a disguise? He still looks like the same old turtle geezer to me."  
  
"Well, you know, the hair... the lack of glasses... it makes a big difference. Anyway, it fooled HIM for years!" Pointing at me.  
  
"Uhm... I wasn't the brightest kid around... I think Goku might have been rubbing off on me. Heh."  
  
But, I digress. He went on to place second in a world tournament in a championship match that was televised. He won over half a million zenii, which came down to around 200,000 (considering taxes and what he lost getting there) that he actually put in a bank account after coming home. We used the money to take care of everyone at the Kame House, as Roshi was generous and said he didn't know what he'd do with it anyway.   
  
18 and I were convinced that we ought to find some sort of employment, but never did very much about it - I think that, at that point, we were still feeling a bit isolated and were wary about contact with people. 18 did actually have a job in retail for a little while, but she didn't hold it that long.  
  
"Would it kill you to smile?"  
  
"I don't smile that often."  
  
"Could you at least try?"  
  
"I can't do it without a reason. It looks weird."  
  
Still, she did earn a few paychecks, which is more than I can say for myself. She also took up painting for a while, starting with a couple of books and some watercolors. She stuck with it long enough to get pretty decent, and did a couple of nice pieces based on some she'd seen in magazines, but lost interest and dropped it for quite a while.  
  
I was suffering from a massive case of writer's block and didn't do that much during that time. I did some reading, but that's about it.  
  
The big event, of course, was the birth of Chichi's son Goten. Chichi and her family were getting a lot of attention after that. Everyone wanted to help however they could - shopping, cooking, helping to take care of the baby, financially - I don't think we quite smothered them, but we came pretty close.  
  
Goten had an insane resemblance to his father - he could practically have been his twin brother. It's a good thing that our lives aren't a manga, or I'd have to call the artist lazy.  
  
I fell in love with that kid, though. He was just so... well, it's going to sound clichéd, but cute. Very cute. Being around him and holding him made me feel really good. And I was exposed to a bit of the less pleasant part of taking care of a baby - not all of it, obviously, it wasn't my kid, and I wasn't about to be there to be woken up at 4 AM - but it didn't seem like anything I couldn't handle. After a while, I started thinking, "Hey, I want one of these."  
  
Once, without thinking, I said to 18, "Man, I can't get enough of that kid. Isn't he cute?"  
  
"Yeah. It seems like you've adhered to the child. Am I losing you, Kuririn? It seems I've got some competition."  
  
"Ha ha, no way, 18. But you know, I was just thinking how I might like to have a kid myself some time--"  
  
I stopped and looked at her a bit anxiously. We'd never talked about that before.  
  
She wouldn't look at me.  
  
"I guess. That's what normal people do."  
  
"Hey, 18, I didn't mean--"  
  
"No, it's perfectly understandable. I mean... I can see where you're coming from."  
  
Uncomfortable silence: eight seconds.  
  
"Well, we ought to be getting home now. They probably want some time alone anyway." I said my goodbyes and we left.  
  
So, 18 was obviously uncomfortable with the idea of being a mother. My feelings were kind of a mess. It felt so stupid: I'd never seriously thought about being a father before, so why was I upset? I certainly didn't want to push 18 into anything she didn't want. Still, it made me sad to think of that door being closed. When I thought about it a little more, I realized that it brought up a lot of other questions that hadn't been asked. Were 18 and I going to be together for the rest of our lives? Were we going to get married? Even - and lord, it made me sick to think this, but it couldn't be avoided - was it even possible for 18 to have children?   
  
Looking at 18, I could tell she was wrestling with similar issues. I wanted to say something comforting and reassuring, something that said, hey, we're in this together and no matter what happens, we'll make it. I'd done it so many times before.  
  
But my words were lame, my tongue useless. All I could do was feel worthless pain.  
  
Oh, 18. What was wrong with me?  
  
---  
  
part II  
  
There was a period where we were drifting apart. I'm not sure when it started or exactly how long it lasted, but it was significant. I just didn't feel very close to her. I wanted to, but I didn't.  
  
Part of the problem was that we didn't know each other that well, or at least, not as well as we've since come to. We weren't completely comfortable with each other yet.  
  
I felt like she wasn't being affectionate enough, especially in public. I've never been big on public displays of affection, but I wished she would give any sign at all that we were close. It made me feel unappreciated. She was frustrated with me because - well, I don't think I've given the impression here, but a lot of the time back then I used to be kind of simple. Not stupid, exactly, but more often than should have been, 18 would want to talk about something and I'd be clueless. A lot of things went over my head.  
  
Then there were the disagreements about people whom we cared about. When I finally talked to 18 about 17, it didn't go well.  
  
"I'm surprised you asked," she said. "You've never wanted to know anything about him before."  
  
"It's just that I never found out why you left him. Do you even see him anymore?"  
  
"Actually, I do. I go out and see him fairly often. The reason I left was that he was so immature and unwilling to change. I love my brother, and I can relate to him in ways I can't relate to anyone else, but he was just at a phase I felt like I'd left behind. I couldn't satisfy myself with the same way of life he did. At the time, I didn't have a clue why. I just felt angry. You know, Kuririn, I'm glad you brought this up. I've actually been feeling badly that I've separated from him and--"  
  
See, there was my opportunity to bond in an important way. Watch me screw it up.  
  
"Wait, wait. You say he's at a phase you've left behind?"  
  
"That's what I said."  
  
"What do you mean, exactly?"  
  
"He doesn't care about anything. I mean, that's exaggerating, but it seems like everything's a game to him."  
  
"Everything? Huh... do you think he would have qualms about killing somebody?"  
  
"...What?"  
  
"I mean, I never thought about it, but he still could be dangerous. Maybe we should..."  
  
I continued to dig myself into that hole for a good minute or so. There I was, being the exact same brand of irrational I'd feared so much from my friends! That was dumb on so many levels, and I really hurt her feelings. That was a sore point for a very long time.  
  
Also, 18 had come to resent Goku. Somehow, she picked up only the worst parts of him - unintelligent, not there for his family, overconfident sometimes near to the point of suicide. I'm not saying that he was those things; I'm just trying to give a sense of the impression she got. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I often praised him at my own expense, in statements such as:  
  
"Oh, I wasn't really much help against Cell. Goku..."  
  
"Nah, I'm not that good at this. You should have seen Goku..."  
  
"Goku was a better, braver warrior than I could ever hope to be."  
  
Honestly, I can see how she might have gotten tired of that. She took it a bit too far, though, and started kind of badmouthing him. Eventually, I couldn't take that anymore and I backlashed. Senseless bickering, really, but that was a sore spot for an even longer time - until fairly recently, I'd say.  
  
Whatever the reason, we drifted apart. At first, we just didn't talk to each other so often or do as much together. Then, we didn't see each other so much - neither one of us did a whole lot (in fact, our inactivity was a big part of the problem), but somehow we managed to miss each other fairly often. I'd be at Goku's family's, she'd be out looking for her brother... she went shopping without letting me know. I visited Yamucha without taking her and didn't really think about it until Yamucha actually asked me where she was.   
  
It was awful. Well, put in perspective, it wasn't that bad - we weren't fighting much or not speaking to each other, it was mostly a kind of malaise. It was as awful as malaise can be, though. I was depressed and restless a lot of the time. Nothing seemed to help. Our conversations didn't seem to have the same kind of meaning they used to, we were tired of the things we usually did and thus kept putting them off, and we weren't comfortable trying much of anything new, so we just basically went nowhere.  
  
My writer's block was worse than ever. With nothing else to do, I started training again. Sure enough, I started getting stronger again after a little while. I marveled at the fact that I hadn't yet hit my limit.  
  
18 and I started sparring again. It went ok, as she'd learned to control herself better. That was kind of fun; we'd found one new thing to do, at least. This outlasted the boredom that inspired it. I was still training, and we were still sparring, right up until she became pregnant with Marron.  
  
This feeling persisted entirely too long. It's not as if we didn't have any good times, but they were scarce. I can't imagine how it was possible now. There was still so much of our relationship we'd yet to explore! I guess we were just stalling.  
  
18 told me one day that the fact that she knew so little about herself was really starting to bother her. She said she was thinking of taking Bulma up on looking at those blueprints.  
  
"Sure," I said. "Maybe that's a good idea."  
  
Famous last words.  
  
We never actually spoke to Bulma. We talked to her father on the phone, and he delegated someone who was researching robotics and who'd studied the blueprints to help us.  
  
He was a pretty nice guy, actually. He introduced himself, shook 18's hand and said "nice to meet you."  
  
"I think I've seen you before," he said to me. "What was the name?"  
  
"Kuririn," said 18. "He's my boyfriend."  
  
"Oh, I see," he said, and smiled. It's hard to be offended by such a pleasant smile, but I managed. "How curious," it seemed to say. "What an amusing curiosity." Patronizing.  
  
He handed us the blueprints - copies, they'd retained the original - and began to describe in great detail what Gero did in the process of making her a cyborg. He stopped a couple of times to make sure we were okay with him going on, but 18 told him not to stop.  
  
It was... really, really brutal. We'd never imagined that so much had been replaced. I felt shocked and a little bit sick. I was holding 18's hand at the start, but she took it away and folded them under her arms. Without going into too much detail, her brain, skin and superficial flesh, nervous system, digestive system, reproductive system, and most of her vital organs were pretty much intact, but not much else. There was another very small device in her head that worked with her brain. They weren't sure just how.  
  
18 didn't say anything. I glanced at her, worried, every so often, but she gave no response. Every so often, she nodded. Even in that moment, she looked beautiful and very human to me. I just felt sorry for her.  
  
I talked to him for a little bit, thanked him, and we left.  
  
Neither of us said anything for some time. We walked, mostly.  
  
"18?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"How are you feeling?"  
  
She laughed. It was the most joyless laugh I've ever heard.  
  
"How am I feeling... Kuririn, I am a fucking MACHINE. How do you think I feel?"  
  
"All this time..." I heard her say under her breath. "Who do I think I've been fooling?"  
  
I was visibly alarmed. "18, that's not--"  
  
"I don't feel like talking right now, okay? I'll see you back at home. Later."  
  
She flew away. In a time when I was more confident, I might have followed her, but I didn't. I went home.  
  
It was a few hours before she came home. I was as anxious as hell. I tried to think of something comforting to say to her, but I couldn't think of the first thing. It's just as well - when she did get home, I didn't have the nerve to speak to her.  
  
18 was pretty quiet for the next few days. The next thing of any appreciable length that she said to me was:  
  
"I'm going to be gone for a while."  
  
"Huh? Where are you going?"  
  
"There are some things that I need to try to figure out. I guess it'll be what's left of Gero's lab, first. After that... wherever whim takes me, I suppose."  
  
"Oh. How long will you be gone?"  
  
"I don't know. It could be a long time."  
  
There was a dull irritation in the back of my brain. I should say something about this.  
  
"Um... you'll need clothes, food, and probably some money."  
  
Something other than that.  
  
"I've already packed everything I need. I don't have to eat a lot."  
  
"Well, I'm sure you'll be all right."  
  
...  
  
"I'll miss you," I said.  
  
"I'll miss you too. I still love you."  
  
"I still love you, too."  
  
She got a backpack and a jacket and made for the door. "Wait," I said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your backpack's unzipped."  
  
"Oh... Thanks. Well, see ya."  
  
It wasn't until she was actually walking out the door that it hit me - that the irritation started to seem important.  
  
"Hey, wait!" I said.   
  
"What?" A bit annoyed, by this time.  
  
"This isn't right. We need to talk."  
  
"So talk."  
  
"This isn't a good place for talking."  
  
It's irrational and paranoid, I know, but when I saw her walking out like that, I had a sensation that she was walking out of my life forever, and it scared me. We found our old spot pretty quickly.  
  
I explained that I couldn't let her go. I was careful to say that I didn't think she was my property, and of course she could travel if she wanted, but not while we weren't getting along like this and she had just had such a shock. Running away won't help, I said. We just need to talk.  
  
"You're probably right, this might not be the best thing. I just don't know what else to do."  
  
There was probably a considerable pause where neither of us could think of anything to say. I asked her how she was really feeling.  
  
"Used, violated, inhuman and scared."  
  
"Scared?"  
  
"I'm not human. Part of me says I should stop trying to deny that, and sometimes I feel like that's all I've been doing."  
  
My heart was pounding out of my ribcage, man. Please tell me there's a "but".  
  
"But I don't want to give up my life. I love you, I've been having a good time, and besides, I feel much freer now. I feel like I can do whatever I want in this world instead of having to remain isolated and boxed into one kind of life."  
  
"Um, I don't think there's any reason you should have to..."  
  
"Surely I disgust you."  
  
"What? Hey, no way! How could I ever be... I mean, you're--"  
  
"--beautiful?"  
  
"Uh."  
  
"I have to say you're right there. Gero didn't do anything to mess up my pretty face. Probably he made it this way, actually."  
  
She closed her eyes for a few moments, then asked me if I'd ever seen her with her shirt off.  
  
"Well... I mean, it seems like a pretty strange time to bring that up."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Put two and two together, idiot."  
  
What can I say - I kept getting five. She sighed and lifted up her shirt.  
  
There was a scar running down most of her torso. It was thin but quite red.   
  
"Oh."  
  
"It's ugly," she said, touching it with one hand. "I hate it."  
  
"It isn't that bad," I said, truthfully. "I've seen much worse."  
  
"It's not just the way it looks," she said, and instantly, for once, I knew what she meant. That scar was a constant reminder what Gero had done to her and all of the consequences of that. She put her shirt back down. "Even on the outside I'm imperfect."  
  
"That doesn't matter. I love you."  
  
"You love me in spite of this," she said, indicating the scar, and when she said that, something clicked in my head. I felt like such a fool for not getting it sooner.  
  
"You're wrong," I said. "I love you for who you are, and that's just a part of who you are."  
  
"What? You can't mean that you love that I'm a cyborg."  
  
"No, it's... You don't have to deny what you are. It doesn't disqualify you from a good life, and it doesn't make you inhuman or incapable of a normal kind of feeling. It's just part of you as a person, for good or bad. And that's fine." I was smiling. This was good stuff.  
  
"It's... nice of you to say that."  
  
"It's true. 18, I say a lot of stuff, and some of it doesn't make much sense, but this is true. Trust me."  
  
18 looked at me. She looked tender, almost fragile.  
  
"Thank you," she said, and hugged me.  
  
Things started to get better after that. I think a big part of it was the realization that neither of us was perfect and that that was just fine. It wasn't instantaneous, but we had a new outlook, our lives were more active, our relationship had progressed to a new level and before I knew it, we felt as close as ever. The next time we met at our spot, we were smiling, kissing, even making out a little bit.  
  
"18," I said, "I don't ever want to leave you."  
  
She smiled somewhat deviously. "Like I'd let you."  
  
Love: It's a great thing.  
  
---  
  
part III  
  
Man, the next couple of years are such a blur it's crazy. I wrote my first novel - it took five months. I wasn't able to get it published yet, and there was a lot of editing and rewriting to be done, but I was happy to have done it.  
  
18 took up painting again. She insists it's just something to do when she's bored, but I've been really impressed by some of the work she's done. She has a unique perspective that results in some very interesting images. Her self-portraits, especially, are very moving.  
  
Yamucha, 18 and I started doing some volunteer work: building houses, working in the warehouse at food banks. That felt really good. It's a great way to spend extra time, and you feel like you are doing an enormous amount of good. The organizations really appreciated our help because we're able to lift so much, but anybody can make an enormous contribution. The world would be a better place if everyone would help out once in a while. It sounds tired, but I really believe it.  
  
Goten grew up fast, and being a Saiyan it wasn't long at all before he was one hell of a handful. It was fun being there to watch him grow up, though. Gohan was clearly enjoying the whole big brother thing, even if he complained sometimes.  
  
Chichi and Gohan ended up babysitting Trunks fairly often, and though he resented the younger kid at first, Trunks and Goten got to know each other and started becoming friends really early on. That went a long way toward developing a lasting relationship between Goku's and Bulma's families, and even helped reconcile Vegeta with everyone.   
  
Trunks was an okay kid: a bit arrogant, but smart and pretty amiable. Bulma and Vegeta turned out to be surprisingly good parents, though neither of them thought themselves especially suited to the role.  
  
One summer night, Yamucha invited 18 and I on a double date.  
  
"I've got a date with this sweet girl and I think you guys should come along. Nothing too racy, I promise."  
  
"Um... I dunno, Yamucha..." I was already trying to think of an excuse to beg it off.  
  
"Um, Kuririn, it's okay if you don't want to go, but... You and 18 take yourselves way too seriously. I mean, you're the kind of people who make everything a serious issue."  
  
"We do?"  
  
"Yeah. Sometimes it's a good thing, but... Honestly, I think it would do you both some good to let yourselves go every now and then."  
  
We actually did end up going. I'd thought it was going to be uncomfortable, but you know what? We had a lot of fun. I remember hopping around town, getting just a little bit drunk, laughing until my sides hurt. Yamucha might have had a point.  
  
I participated, at some point, in a couple of studies on ki manipulation, but I think I'd be better off talking about that later.  
  
Um... I went through a brief period where I tried floating around so I'd be at people's eye-level, but I felt too much like Pu'ar, and people made fun of me.  
  
No. That last one didn't really happen. I'm really tired and trying to finish this chapter.  
  
Anyway, like I said, a blur.  
  
It had been a little over two years since she came to the Kame House when 18 and I became engaged to be married. The suggestion had come up much sooner, but we weren't in any hurry. We wanted to wait until we were really comfortable with each other, and besides, we didn't really regard marriage as a necessity. We already felt very close to each other - why did we need an institution to make it "official"?  
  
Still, I liked the idea of having somebody I could really call family - I never had - and I also liked to think we would be together for a very long time, so I proposed. There was a ring, a pretty nice one - I picked it out, but Yamucha paid for it. I didn't want him to, but he insisted. After we came into some money later, I paid him back, but that was technically 18's money, so she essentially paid for her own engagement ring. Heh. If I were a prideful sort of guy, that might really bother me.  
  
I made a semi-nice dinner (good cut of steak, brown rice, green beans) and arranged for Oolong and Roshi to be elsewhere. There wasn't a lot of ceremony, but I thought it was nice. At some point, I pulled out the box.  
  
"I should've known you had some ulterior motive about tonight," she said. (Just a joke. You have to know her.)  
  
I laughed. "I guess you have me all figured out, 18. This probably won't come as much of a surprise, either."  
  
I opened the box. Despite herself, she did seem a little bit surprised.  
  
"So... Will you marry me?"  
  
She smiled and nodded. "Yes."  
  
"Oh. Wow, um... heheheh. Cool." Turning red as a radish. I must have looked like a moron. I'd thought I was prepared for it, but I guess I overestimated myself.  
  
Yes, though. Yes, yes, yes. What a beautiful word.  
  
We had a really nice evening. A bit subdued, but very happy. I moved back into the room that night. Looking at her, I was just so happy. She was beautiful, what we had was beautiful, and I was incredibly lucky.  
  
Before I get any sappier, let's end the chapter.  
  
--END OF CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE-- 


	32. Family

Chapter 32: Family  
  
It was fun being engaged. It didn't last that long, but it was fun. Hey, world, we're in love. You've got to recognize that now.  
  
I remember announcing it to everybody during a dinner at the Son house. They applauded. I was really happy and proud, and I was kind of worried that 18 would be embarrassed, but she smiled and put her hand on my shoulder. She was happy, too. I don't think I could have been truly happy if she hadn't been - if I hadn't been sure this was for us, rather than just me.  
  
We didn't spend a lot of time on wedding planning and preparations. 18 told me that the ceremony wasn't that important to her, so I could do what I wanted. Her one stipulation was that she wanted to wear a nice white dress.  
  
To that end, we did spend a considerable amount of time looking at wedding dresses. From what I've heard of wedding planning, that's the only part of the "real wedding planning experience" that we actually went through. It didn't feel that hectic, though. I got to see 18 in lots of beautiful dresses, which is a good day in my book. I wasn't much help in the selection, as I thought she looked absolutely stunning in pretty much everything. She would sigh and tell me to put my eyes back into their sockets and take an honest look. I did love the one she decided on. It was pretty expensive, but we splurged on just this one thing. 18 just looked so happy when she saw herself in the mirror in that dress. The money felt like a small price for that.  
  
I briefly entertained the thought of a big, spectacular ceremony. I like big parties. But we didn't have a lot of money, we didn't know that many people to invite, and I knew that 18 would probably be uncomfortable with the whole thing, so I planned for something small, sweet, and outdoors. And I have to say, it ended up being just as memorable as a big wedding would have been, and without the hassle. This is an important truth: you can have something meaningful and lovely without spending a lot of money or inviting a lot of people. I recommend it.  
  
Still, I invited basically everyone I knew, with some important exceptions (you have to ask yourself, would inviting Vegeta really be a good idea?) . I didn't expect all of them to come, and almost none of them did. Here is a total list of our guests: Muten Roshi, Oolong, Yamucha, Son Gohan, 17.  
  
Yamucha carried the regrets of a lot of people who couldn't make it. I'll be fair: it sounded like most of the absenteeism was due to actual business rather than anything against 18 or I. Yamucha was really upset, though. It's not fair, he said - this was my big day, and everyone had let me down. He would have stern talks, he assured me, with at least Bulma and Pu'ar.  
  
I was kind of disappointed, but I told him not to worry about it. I didn't feel sad - I was too busy feeling really excited and full of joy and love. 18 was so beautiful, and I mean that in every possible sense of the word, and I felt so close to her, and to be joined to her, to actually be able to call her family, was just-- wow. I loved the world that day, and my heart was absolutely free of bad feeling. If Frieza had been there, I might have given him a hug.  
  
18 had invited her brother, who looked kind of amused about the whole thing but respected it and stood back and watched. He put some of the others a bit on edge, but no one actually objected to his presence, so there were no problems.  
  
The wedding ceremony was performed by my old sensei from the Orinji Temple. I was very pleased to be able to get him to do it, because I still felt a close connection to him even though I'd only seen him once in so many years. It was a nice little wedding, dignified without being too solemn.  
  
I have to admit I didn't notice much of what was being said, though I tried my hardest. That seemed to pass as a dream would go by, half-recognized. I was looking at 18. I've said already how beautiful she was, so let me try a different tack - she looked so darn cute as a bride. I just couldn't wait to be married to her. I barely suppressed a ridiculously huge, giddy smile. She looked down at me warmly and gave me a little smile back.  
  
Then, we were married. Oddly, what I remember of that moment is wishing I were taller. 18 and I are usually sitting when we kiss.  
  
We went immediately to meet the guests. 18 held my hand. I was so amazed and moved by that. Everyone was really supportive, of course.  
  
"How about that," said Oolong, "you guys actually tied the knot! Congratulations... I think it's a good match. It'll last a long time."  
  
"It'll last forever," said Gohan. "Somehow, I feel confident that it will."  
  
I smiled. "Forever is a long time."  
  
"Oh, I think I'll keep him around," said 18, and leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. "He's too cute to drop."  
  
Man, did I blush. Bright, bright red. 18's affection was surprising and wonderful. "You too," I squeaked.  
  
Yamucha laughed. "I swear, you guys are the cutest couple ever."  
  
"It's a good day," said Muten Roshi. "Reminds me of my own wedding... an amazing woman, she was, strong and beautiful and full of spunk."  
  
Everything stopped.  
  
"No way," said Yamucha. "No WAY."  
  
"Master," I said, astonished, "I never..."  
  
"Heh heh! I've been around a very long time. I do still have some secrets."  
  
"But what was she like? When was this?"  
  
"Later, later. What's important right now is... a wild honeymoon night! You two got your hotel reservation yet? Yowza!" (Much nudging and winking followed. Cue groans, indignant protests and/or fallouts.)  
  
Then, we talked to 17. I didn't know what to expect. I'd only met him once before, when 18 kissed me. He spoke to me first.  
  
"So this is the human that my sister's losing her mind over. It's strange... you're a bit of a runt."  
  
"You're rude," said 18. "He has a name."  
  
17 laughed. "She's really into you," he said to me. "I don't think you know how lucky you are."  
  
"Oh, I do," I said. "18's amazing. I can't believe I was lucky enough to meet someone who..."  
  
"No," he said, "I mean because it's just so ridiculously unlikely. She was dead set against anything like this. The first time she spoke to me after going to meet you, she was trying to think of the cruellest way to blow you off."  
  
18 was mortified. "Damn it, 17!"  
  
"Ahh, it's okay," I said. "Things've worked out."  
  
"You know, I've never seen 18 this happy," he said. "I don't really understand it, but I hope it stays good for both of you."  
  
"Thanks," I said.  
  
"What about you?" said 18. "You getting along okay?"  
  
"Oh, all systems function well," he said blankly.  
  
"Arrgh! I'm serious!"  
  
"Ha ha ha! That one always did get you."  
  
"I'm just saying... The life I've got here is pretty good. You could have it too, if you wanted. We could... uh... help you."  
  
17 looked up for a moment, then shook his head. "You know me so little."  
  
"Wh... what?"  
  
"We've become so distant. Do you think I haven't found something already that satisfies me? Do you think I spend my entire life in that forest?"  
  
18 was genuinely shocked. She couldn't say anything.  
  
"Our lives are seperate, sister. We can visit each other's worlds for a while, but that's all. I fish, if you must know. For one thing, of several. Professionally."  
  
"..."  
  
"Thank you for inviting me to your wedding, though. I'm glad I was here."  
  
"You're welcome. Um... I'm sorry for thinking I had you figured out."  
  
"You don't need to apologize."  
  
There was a short pause, then he took to the air.  
  
"Hey, Kuririn!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Hold on to her. Do whatever it takes. You'll regret it if you don't."  
  
"Yeah, thanks."  
  
After a short wave, he left. We were quiet.  
  
"Hey, 18. Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah. I'm okay."  
  
I smiled at her. "Hey! We're husband and wife now!"  
  
"We don't have the certificate yet," she said.  
  
We got legally married shortly afterward. It says "Kuririn and Eighteen Chestnut" on it, which is pretty funny, since none of those names are real. Eighteen is just the number Gero happened to be up to, Chestnut is just something I came up with when I got my driver's license, and even Kuririn is only one of the nicknames I had as a kid. It stuck because it was the only one that wasn't in some way derogatory.  
  
A long time ago, I asked 18 if she wanted to change her name. Without pausing, she said, "No."  
  
"But why?" I said. "I mean, haven't you had a lot of trouble with people over whether that's really your name? Wouldn't it be easier to..."  
  
"It's my name, Kuririn," she said. "Or at least the closest thing to a name that I have. You don't just throw something like that out because it isn't convenient."  
  
I never brought it up again. She's still Number 18.  
  
After 18 and I were wed, we decided to use the opportunity to spend a whole day together doing different sorts of things. Since we can both fly quite quickly, we could afford to be pretty flexible.  
  
We hiked, early in the morning, about 10 miles along a mountain trail. The weather was great. We talked about what a change in scenery it was from living in a house on a tiny island. We talked about getting a house ourselves, but nothing came of it. We seemed content enough at the Kame House and besides had pretty much full access to Yamucha's place, so it didn't seem necessary to move.  
  
We toured the famous art museum of Central Capital. There were things of amazing beauty there, and there were many works that I didn't seem to get. In some cases, 18 said that there wasn't much to get and that it was pretentious crap, and in other cases she said I was probably right. Me, I might as well flip a coin.  
  
We had lunch at some anonymous diner. I had some terrific pot roast. I don't remember what 18 had. I remember having a conversation about pet names.  
  
"So," she said, "are you having a good time so far?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. How about you?"  
  
"Yeah. It's been pretty interesting."  
  
"So, do you have any idea what you want to do next?"  
  
"Whatever you decide is fine with me, baby."  
  
Her voice was kind of hesitant at the last part. I stared at her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh my god... 18, did you just call me baby?"  
  
"...Yeah, so?"  
  
I couldn't help it - I started laughing. "Oh man! That is just too weird."  
  
"What? We're married now, can't we... Stop laughing!"  
  
She pinched me in the neck to make me cut it out.  
  
"Oww."  
  
"I'm serious, why don't we ever do that?"  
  
"I dunno... I guess we're just not that kind of couple."  
  
"Well, maybe we need to change."  
  
"Okay, you're probably right. I'm sorry, I should have been more respectful of your feelings... my darling."  
  
Her nose scrunched up. "I'm not your daughter."  
  
"Honey?"  
  
"Tch... sounds fake."  
  
"My love?"  
  
"Oh please, spare me the sonnet every time you speak to me."  
  
"Um... sweetie, darlin', cutie... honeybunch..." My voice became pseudo-deep and passionate. "Babydoll, sugarbob... homeslice..."  
  
18 slapped her hand over her eyes and we degenerated into self-mocking laughter.  
  
"On second thought, we probably aren't ready for that."  
  
"Um, yeah."  
  
We are soooo sensitive it's not even funny. Even today, we're rarely comfortable calling each other anything but our names except in great privacy.  
  
After lunch, we were in a goofy mood; we passed by a tattoo parlor and jokingly dared each other back and forth to get more and more preposterous things drawn on our bodies, but walked away undefaced.  
  
We visited a popular natural reserve, and one man was nice enough to take a picture of us with his instant camera. In the picture, we're both smiling. A bit reservedly, but I think that makes it look less fake than many snapshots. It's a nice picture.  
  
We swam in the ocean, near a coral reef. The water was much warmer than I'd expected. The life of the sea was everywhere, unconcerned by you and taking you in, wrapping around you. A thousand colors and finned shapes darted through colonies of living sculpture. The diversity of life made the lushest of forests look desolate by comparison.  
  
We spent much of the evening on the beach. In the evenings it's nice to just lay on the beach and not say much. The cool, wet air, the sound of the rolling surf, and the endless sky of stars are so soothing that you can just lay there and enjoy it.  
  
We hadn't been sure we wanted to do the hotel thing, but we wanted privacy and sleeping outdoors, especially after spending so much of the day outdoors, was not a terribly appealing prospect, so we went ahead and found a place to stay. As we were registering, I was very happy, still caught up in the excitement and euphoria of the day and of the wedding. I happily announced to the clerk that we were newlyweds, and he smiled at us, no strange looks or barely-held back comments. Probably he was just being polite, but I had this warm feeling that something about the nature of our happiness overrode how odd a match we might outwardly appear to be.  
  
Upon getting into the room and sitting down, everything started to sink in. I was married now; what did that mean? We'd already been living together, of course, so there wasn't much of a lifestyle change coming. Still, it did feel a little different to be commited in an official way to staying together for the rest of our lives. That evening, I felt a bit of pressure to start it off right.  
  
Incidentally, there wasn't any pressure to "consummate the marriage" (which is a load of nonsense anyway) because - full disclosure time - it was hardly as if we'd never had sex. In fact, our first time was about seven months before that. Should I feel guilty about this? I don't. It never felt wrong. Neither of us wanted to rush into it, and by the time we started doing it, we felt very close, comfortable, and intimately familiar with each other. It was a little awkward at first, but once we got over the nervousness it felt natural and passionate and wonderful. For what it's worth, I am glad I waited for someone who I felt very close to. Otherwise, afterward it just would have felt like I'd lost something, like I'd given some part of myself away to a stranger. As it was, though, I had no regrets at all.  
  
You've probably noticed that until this point I've said absolutely nothing about my sex life. There are a number of considerations that have led me to exclude it; one of these is the fact that I don't think anybody really wants to read about that. The most important reason, however, is that I just don't feel comfortable talking about it here. When 18 and I are making love, I feel like I'm exposing a very private and fragile part of myself, a part that is freer and more passionate but that is usually suppressed by inhibition. Things that feel right when I'm with 18 would just be embarrassing put here on the page in black text on a white background, coldly exposed to the judging eyes of the reader. Therefore, I've declined to talk about sex here. I think you'll agree that that's my prerogative.  
  
Let me take this opportunity, by the way, to address one of the weirdest questions 18 and I have ever been asked: How we even knew it was possible for us to have sex. Come on, people, it was EVIDENT. This stuff isn't rocket science. Sheesh.  
  
Anyway, as I was sitting nervously on the bed and waiting for 18 to get ready, I was struck by the full weight of marriage. 18 had chosen me over everyone else in the world to share her life with. This was an amazing thing to me. I suppose it was what I'd vaguely wanted to happen from the beginning, but back then it felt like a fruitless wish. A pipe dream.  
  
It felt wonderful, as if something in my life had finally been granted to me. However, just then I felt a pang of guilt. It was something that had been bothering me for a long time: the root of our relationship. I took 18 in when she had no place to go. I was constantly in her life, showing her the world and teaching her how to function in it. From this relationship our romance grew, and I wondered whether it was right for a benefactor to become a lover. Maybe this was why she'd ended up with me... simply because I was around. I wondered whether she could have done better. I felt like I was holding her back somehow, with my slow-wittedness and ugliness.  
  
And when she stepped out into the moonlight in her nightie, she looked so elegant to me that I looked up at her face in wonder and said, "Oh, 18, you're so beautiful... you're so beautiful that it kills me."  
  
She tried to look at my eyes after I said that, but she had to look away. It looked like embarrassment, but I could see that she actually felt ashamed.  
  
"Thank you," she said.  
  
Suddenly I got cold feet. I could scarcely believe that she was sitting next to me, much less married to me. I had no idea what to say to her.  
  
"Do you want to go ahead and turn the light off now? Or would you rather read or something?"  
  
"Nah, you can turn it off." I didn't feel like sleeping, though.  
  
"Well, good night, then."  
  
"Hey, 18?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"I'm glad that we got married."  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"So am I. I think we'll have a nice life together."  
  
"Why did you decide to marry me, 18?"  
  
"It seemed like a good thing to do. We were probably going to stay together anyway."  
  
"...Yeah." The room was quiet and seemed much larger than it actually was. My eyes were wide open and my hands were folded across my stomach. These are the details that I remember. My nervousness made me observant.  
  
"18?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Why do you like me?"  
  
She sat up. There was enough light coming in through the window to see the bright, pale profile of her face. She closed her eyes and sighed lightly.  
  
"Kuririn," she said, "we've been together for more than three years. I've told you many times that I love you. I've tried in every way I know how to let you know how I feel about you. I'm not as good at expressing emotion as you are, Kuririn. You can smile this great big stupid smile that spreads throughout the room and infects everyone with a touch of its pure happiness. Your eyes change with the slightest shift in your mood and I can tell a thousand things about how you're feeling just by looking into them. I can't do that, but I do what I can, and after all of this time, I can't possibly imagine how you would still need an answer to that question."  
  
"I know," I said, and she was right, I was being utterly foolish. Yet, something chewed at me from the inside of my soul. I looked straight at her. "...But I do."  
  
18 rested her head for a moment, and then moved toward me. I sat up to meet her, and she kissed me, slowly and softly.  
  
"You are the most loving person in my life," she said.  
  
18, though you may not believe it, I did know such vivid expression in your eyes that night. If you can tell a thousand things from my expression, I could tell an infinity of things, a continuum of all thoughts and feelings full and heavy and true, and you did not have to say anything else.  
  
We made love that night, and I mean that. It was more than just sex, or at least it meant more to me. It was about the feeling of her body against mine, the warmth of the bed, the comfort and pleasure and love of the moment.  
  
Afterward, we just lay there breathing. I felt calm and fulfilled.  
  
Sometimes, I think, you don't have to say anything. Sometimes, words are a poor imitation of feelings.  
  
---  
  
part II  
  
Life, of course, would not stop to revere our wedding. The markers placed upon things by people don't signify real change, just like you can cross over a line between two provinces and see the same trees on either side. Life went on.  
  
Things were good. I was at my healthiest then and would get up nearly with the sunrise, bathe, train for a couple of hours, fix breakfast, and relax and read a book for a while. Then I'd go to town (I flew) for groceries, the morning paper, etc. Sometimes 18 would come with me. After bringing everything home, I'd usually have lunch with 18 on the beach. We talked about mundane stuff, nothing too exciting. In the evenings I wrote. I was writing pretty consistently then, which made me happy. I wrote short stories and quite a few poems, although the poems were never published.  
  
18 divided her time between a few interesting pursuits. She took an interest in the workings of machines and learned about various appliances by reading and by taking them apart and reassembling them. This was mostly a hobby for 18, but it's had some farther-reaching effects since then. She also began drawing in pencil; the biggest thing to come out of this was a 24-page manga she wrote called Assembly Line, a dark-toned rumination on existence by a newly-created android, though that was later, after Marron was born.  
  
18 and I sparred some afternoons, and the others I would train alone. I was still getting stronger, though I never approached 18. Unfortunately, something prideful in me made that my ultimate goal at the time. 18 shrugged it off and said I could train for whatever reason I wanted. Apparently, what I wanted was to be a bullheaded idiot.  
  
After Muten Roshi-sama's revelation about his past wife, he suddenly had endless stories to tell. Every day he would tell new stories, about training under Mutaito and pioneering martial arts techniques that would form the foundation of everything the super-powered warriors use in battle today, about living in isolation for many years on Kame Island before anyone came, about falling in love with his wife in chaotic times and under harsh circumstances, about training his best past pupils. He gave us memories of the early industrialization of the cities, of the first Tenka'ichi Budokai, of the union of the world's final few major factions under one government... seriously, the man could write a book much better than this one and five times as thick.  
  
Most of the things I've mentioned extend before the wedding and beyond the major events I'm about to describe, but this little period of equilibrium seemed like a good place to talk about general stuff. It was a good life, tranquil but captivating. Of course, things have to change eventually.  
  
So we got pregnant. It wasn't planned; they so rarely are. 18 and I just weren't as careful as we should have been with birth control. I know it's stupid, but it was a pretty distant concern for us, as we were in pretty severe doubt that we were capable of having children.  
  
Now, going by my description of her physiology last chapter, you might wonder what about it would cause a reproductive problem, but I have to admit that when I said "pretty much intact", I meant "not exactly replaced, but..."  
  
Remember, Gero's concern was creating fighting machines. He didn't have the time or inclination to be delicate. He put his robotic parts in whereever they'd maximize performance, without much care to how well remaining non-essential natural body parts would hold up. Being totally unconcerned with the reproductive system, Gero didn't bother to remove, replace, or even really work around it. So as you can guess, things didn't end up looking great for 18's future as a mother.  
  
Anyway, we didn't plan on it, but it happened. You might expect me to say that I've no regrets - it sounds like something I might say - but that would be a lie. While I of course have no regrets about Marron, who has consistently amazed me since the day she was born, that pregnancy was a really tough time for us, and I regret going into it unprepared. Heck, I wish 18 and I had even talked about it beforehand; that would have helped a lot.  
  
The first sign was 18's morning sickness. You know, they call it morning sickness, but it was also midday sickness, afternoon sickness, and so on - poor 18 was nauseous a LOT. You have no idea how alarming that was. 18 was NEVER sick. She had never had the slightest health problem as long as I knew her, and now here she was throwing up every day!  
  
"Geez, 18, I mean... Geez! Are you okay?"  
  
"Euuh... I'll be all right."  
  
"Geez, you look terrible! I'm going to call a doctor."  
  
"No. No, I'm fine, really. I'm not dying or anything."  
  
No doctors - 18 was firm on that. She didn't want me to know it, but the idea of being examined by a doctor terrified her. I saw it immediately in her eyes: a trace of her scar, deep red aching old injury. She hid it quickly.  
  
"Look," she said, "what good would a doctor do? Do you think any doctor could understand what was going on with my body? You know how different I am from humans."  
  
I looked at her sadly. That was not the real reason for her objection. Still, she had a point, and I held off for a little while on contacting anybody. Soon I couldn't stand it anymore, though, and I called Bulma, the only person I could think of who might know anything at all.  
  
"Oh, hey Kuririn," said Bulma. "What's up?"  
  
"Uh, I think I've got a problem, Bulma."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
I anxiously described the problem.  
  
"Hmm... I'm not an MD, Kuririn, but... You said mainly in the mornings, right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Any other problems?"  
  
After thinking for a bit, I told her about some cramps 18 had mentioned.  
  
"Well, I guess it could be a lot of things, and like I said, I'm not a doctor, but... Sounds like she's pregnant."  
  
"...Pregnant?"  
  
"Yeah! Go to the drugstore and get one of the tests, they're pretty accurate. Let me know how it turns out, OK? I mean, since she's a cyborg that'd be a big deal."  
  
I went numb, as if I'd never heard of pregnancy before. I didn't know what to think. I told 18.  
  
"Oh my god," she said, "that would explain why I haven't been..."  
  
"Why you haven't been... 18! Why didn't you say anything?"  
  
"Oh, like I give you a daily report!"  
  
"Well... crap."  
  
It was a short, silent trip to the store. I didn't feel much of anything; my reaction was on hold until the news was confirmed or denied.  
  
"I'm pregnant," she said to me. "It was positive. I'm pregnant."  
  
I fell back in my chair. "Wow..."  
  
18 was flattened. "How the hell did I get pregnant?"  
  
"Oh man," I said, stalling. It was still sinking in for me - we were going to have a child. I was going to be a father! I had no experience with parenting. I'd never even been part of a real family. Raising a child seemed to be the greatest unknown possible, a completely new set of experiences. The thought of it thrilled me. "18... We're going to be parents. I can't believe it!"  
  
"I guess we're going to have to make a lot of changes around here. I dunno, 18, do you think we should get a new place? Hey, we need to pick names too. Wow, we actually get to pick a name! This is so cool!"  
  
"Slow down, Kuririn," 18 said.  
  
"Yeah, you're right, I'm getting ahead of myself, sorry. I'm just so excited! First things first... I need to tell everybody the news!"  
  
I ran into Roshi-sama's room. An unusually explicit exercise program was on the TV; when he saw me Roshi grabbed the remote and nervously flipped some channels.  
  
"Ah! How you doin', my boy? Not doing much here... just flipping through the channels..."  
  
"Master Roshi, 18 and I are having a baby!"  
  
He turned off the television. "Wha... Is that so? Congratulations! I knew you two were going far..."  
  
18 came into the room, lifted me by the shirt, and pulled me away.  
  
"Do you have to tell everyone so soon?"  
  
"Um. Why shouldn't I?"  
  
She put me down and massaged her temples. "I don't know. Just slow down and let me think."  
  
I sat down, but I couldn't slow down; it was all buzzing around my brain, moving at such great speed as to cloud out other thoughts and cut off oxygen, making me giddy and eclipsing reason. "Aren't you excited?" I said. "I mean, this is... I think this is the most exciting moment of my life!"  
  
"Kuririn, I'm a cyborg. Do you even realize what this means?"  
  
That made me stop a little. "Oh... Yeah, I guess it is pretty amazing, isn't it? We're lucky."  
  
"That isn't what I mean. This could be very bad for us, Kuririn. We've got no clue how my body will handle this. It could be deadly for the baby, or..."  
  
"Well... We'll make it through somehow. Don't give up before we've even started."  
  
She looked afraid and sad. Her eyes wouldn't quite open all the way. "What if... What if they have to cut me open again? I don't..." She couldn't finish her sentence.  
  
I really should have talked to 18 right then about her fears. At the time, I dismissed them as mere nervousness; another look would have shown how messed up she was inside. But I was too far ahead of her. I was long gone. In my mind, our baby already had a name, a life, and a future all its own, and me and 18 were mom and dad. It seemed almost predestined. Worry was the farthest thing from my mind.  
  
"Oh, 18," I said, "Don't worry so much. Our baby will be fine. I've just got this feeling."  
  
She looked at me like someone she'd never met before. "You have a feeling?"  
  
Her stare stripped me down and made me feel uncomfortable. Muten Roshi came into the room and I looked to him instead of replying, grateful to escape. He started to ask questions about 18's pregnancy and what we were going to do about it. 18 cooled off and spoke calmly, no longer showing any emotion. I did notice that she wouldn't look at me.  
  
Roshi-sama seemed a bit worried that we'd move out. I had to admit that the Kame House didn't look like the best place to raise a child. I didn't want our kid to be as cut off from people as we were. Isolation isn't really healthy for a person who's just forming their first perspective on the world. Come to think of it, I wonder how healthy it is for anyone. I wonder if I cut myself off from something vital by choosing to live on an island. Anyway, I told him that we'd see later on whether we wanted to move.  
  
I called Bulma and confirmed the news; she told me that I had to know this was a big deal and that I could be sure any medical oversight we needed would be provided for us, which seemed awfully generous so I thanked her. Then it was on to Gohan. He congratulated me and praised me and generally made me feel really good.  
  
"So, do you know anything about the baby yet?" He asked me.  
  
"No, no, we just found out."  
  
"Do you think it's going to be a boy or a girl?"  
  
I shrugged and blushed, as if he could see me. "I dunno, man... Either would be great, though I think... I'd kind of like a girl."  
  
Gohan laughed. "Well, that's the least of the surprises you'll have. It's really different having a young kid around, Kuririn, but I think you'll like it... It keeps you busy, anyway."  
  
"Hey, how is Goten lately?"  
  
He made an exasperated noise. "He's into everything. He's so hyper he wears even me out, and that isn't easy..."  
  
I talked to Gohan with a smile on my face until I noticed 18 looking at me evenly from across the room. When she noticed me looking back, she ducked away.  
  
After I got off the phone I spoke to her. "Hey, 18," I said, "Bulma said that if we came over there she'd arrange for a free medical examination."  
  
She nodded slightly.  
  
"Um... how do you feel about that?"  
  
"Sounds generous."  
  
I waited for her to say something else, but she didn't -- so I asked her if she was okay.  
  
"Don't worry about me," she said. "I'd hate to disturb the most exciting moment of your life."  
  
Her tone bothered me, but the conversation obviously wasn't going anywhere, so I left her alone. Besides, it didn't bother me that much. At that point, I was still caught up in the rush of the news.  
  
I had to let Yamucha know next; he was so enthusiastic for me that I forgot anything that was troubling my mind. I was just really happy as we yelled and whooped and laughed. He told me that I would be a great Dad. I told him that he'd be like an uncle. He said that he wanted us to come over as often as possible, and I said that sounded great. He really was happy for me. I was thrilled about the future.  
  
It wasn't until dinner that I really started feeling troubled about the way 18 was acting. She was the central subject of conversation, but she scarcely participated in it. When I asked her if she was feeling all right she merely nodded, and when I said some silly gregarious thing about eating for two she didn't respond at all.  
  
"So," I said, "I dunno if I really want to move out. I'm kind of attached to this place. Maybe we could spend part of the time here and part of the time somewhere on the mainland."  
  
"That's probably a good idea," said Oolong. "You'll want to minimize the kid's exposure to this old perv."  
  
"Hmf! You're one to talk," said Roshi. "I know how to act around children. As a matter of fact, I'm already preparing to sell my magazine collection."  
  
I laughed and shook my head. "You'd do that for me? Maybe we should stay here. Hey, 18 -- do you think we could raise a kid here?"  
  
She shrugged. "I don't see what the problem would be."  
  
The conversation ran cyclically like that, but that's the most 18 ever said. Her silence, and especially her deliberate avoidance of eye contact, was beginning to bug me. I made a couple of feeble attempts to talk to 18 that evening, but it wasn't until the next morning that we actually said anything.  
  
She spent most of the morning in the bathroom and the rest of it in bed. She was sitting there when I went in to talk to her.  
  
"Hey, 18."  
  
"Hello, Kuririn."  
  
I didn't sit next to her. I stood across from her instead.  
  
"What's wrong, 18?"  
  
"I don't know. A lot of things."  
  
"Aren't you excited about our baby?"  
  
"No. I'm really not excited."  
  
"Well, why not?" I was getting frustrated: I really couldn't grasp it, and 18 wasn't giving me any hints with her arms dropped lamely in her lap and her face blank. "I mean... come on, it's the next chapter of our life! This is the next big thing for us. We're going to have another person in our life, and it'll be up to us to see them through to adulthood... doesn't that stir anything in you? How can you not be excited about that?"  
  
"Kuririn. It isn't that simple!"  
  
"What?"  
  
Now she broke her stonewall. "I don't get it, Kuririn. How can you just dive into your "daddy" role without bothering to worry about or even consider our problems? It's like you don't even see any of it."  
  
"Any of what? You've lost me."  
  
"Like I said, we don't know how my body is going to handle being pregnant. That baby might be doomed already. For all we know, it could even kill me."  
  
"That doesn't-"  
  
"Shut up, I already know how you feel about that. Getting to the point, how are you sure we're ready to be parents? I still feel a step removed from humans. I can't even relate to them, and you expect me to be a mother to one? The concept is so strange and alien it makes my stomach churn."  
  
I sat down. Her words hurt me a lot.  
  
"I just can't handle it, Kuririn. I'm not ready for this."  
  
"Well, you know what? Ready or not, it's here. You have to handle it. So what are you going to do?"  
  
"Why didn't you ask me that before now? You just assumed I was gung-ho to give birth to and raise your baby without asking! You never even talked to me about this, Kuririn!"  
  
"Well, you should have told me that you were feeling this way instead of giving me the silent treatment yesterday."  
  
"As if you even gave me an opening. You weren't prepared to listen."  
  
I fidgeted over that one. She was right.  
  
"Well, yeah," I said, "I guess I did assume you would be in this with me. We are supposed to be partners."  
  
"We aren't supposed to be anything. I love you, but I never agreed to follow you through anything."  
  
"Actually, 18, you did. It's what people do for each other, 18. Do you understand?"  
  
"You're lecturing me again. Do you think you're better than me?"  
  
I snapped. "I think you're being selfish!"  
  
She didn't say anything, just stared.  
  
"I mean, 18, sometimes I feel like I'm giving and giving for you and you... well, you don't do anything but take."  
  
Blood rushed to my head. Was I really saying this? I could see the life I'd built with 18 coming apart with alarming speed, and there wasn't a thing I could do about it because I couldn't change how I felt. You never can, even if you know it'd be for the best.  
  
"Tch," she said. "Kuririn, the martyr."  
  
"Well, how am I supposed to feel? 18, I would do anything for you, and you show me affection so rarely that I can scarcely believe it's happening when you do. You starve me, 18. I'm dying inside."  
  
She didn't lash back in anger, but looked really hurt. "I never thought I could love someone as much as I love you," she said. "I give you all the affection I have. You knew who you married."  
  
You can't take it back, and you can't swallow the pain. It just hangs there like a huge, dead thing.  
  
"This is bigger than the baby, isn't it?" said 18. "Maybe we shouldn't be bringing a child up in a family like this. Maybe it would be better if we didn't keep it."  
  
I jumped up. "18! How can you even suggest... nggh... THAT?" I couldn't make myself say the word. I hated myself for thinking about it.  
  
She raised an eyebrow. "I was talking about adoption. Did you think I meant an abortion?"  
  
My head reeled. "I, I..."  
  
"Well, why the hell not? It's my right."  
  
It's hard to say how angry that made me. To destroy a life before it even begins is a horrible tragedy to me. "How... how dare you?"  
  
She stood up. "Don't be asking me how I dare anything, husband. Remember whom you're talking to."  
  
"That's low, 18. I don't know how I can face you after you threatened the life of my child."  
  
"I've no serious intention of doing anything of the sort," she said. "What I find intolerable is your attitude. You think you have say over what I do?"  
  
"It's my child you're talking about."  
  
"Your child. Are you the one who gets to have her body converted into a gestation device? You can't possibly know how afraid and disgusted I am of what's going to happen to me. It's like being held prisoner by your own body. And you would tell ME what I can't do?"  
  
I looked away. "Oh. I see."  
  
"I don't expect you to get it," she said. "What's it like being you, Kuririn? It must be easy living when half of life's most difficult matters fly straight over your head."  
  
"You SHREW!" I said.  
  
18 stopped her assault and looked genuinely stunned.  
  
"I can't believe you!" I shouted. "You're a monster, and you say that I don't understand? I don't want anything to do with you anymore!"  
  
I bolted. I ran from the room, through the house, and into the door, which made me fall over, somewhat deterring my fit of an exit. I threw the door open and threw myself into the sky, starting to fly and igniting my ki flare in mid-air. I flew so hard that before I even opened my eyes I realize I had to turn around or I'd leave the atmosphere.  
  
I was a creature of pure anger. Angry at 18 - how could she talk to me like that? whom had I married? Angry at myself - I'd ruined my life with the things I'd just said, hadn't I? I took it out on the desert. Instinctively, I flew there, to the place where we'd fought the Saiyans. I landed not far from where I held back the will of a planet's worth of vengance to not kill the Saiyan Prince Vegeta.  
  
I screamed and threw a bolt of ki at the nearest cliff in sight. I didn't charge it, really. Just threw for all I was worth.  
  
The ensuing disaster showed up on the scales very far from that dead place. I killed a mountain. I myself was in danger of being injured by the rockslides and flying debris. After I got clear, I looked at my hand in disbelief.  
  
I really am insanely powerful. There's more power in my small, breakable body than anyone deserves. I realized then that what they say is true - I really could destroy the Earth. I could do it before any of my friends could stop me. After we worked so hard so many times to defend billions of people who didn't even know what was going on, all it would take would be a whim from me to undo it all. Let me tell you, that is one scary realization.  
  
For a long time, I stared in awe at the destruction I'd caused. No place is truly dead, you know, on this Earth. In lashing out in anger I ended the existence of plant and animal life that has as much claim - arguably more - to it as me. I'd put such an ugly mark on my karma I felt I could never redeem myself. I dropped to my knees and prayed for hours.  
  
I guess I must have looked pretty desperate when I showed up at Yamucha's, because when he answered he didn't even say hello, just "Holy shit, what happened to you?"  
  
I told him I needed to sit and collapsed in the first chair he showed me.  
  
---  
  
"I wouldn't worry too much about the mountain," he said. "We've already blown that place halfway to Hell and back."  
  
"I was just so angry... Oh man, Yamucha, what am I going to do?"  
  
"I don't know. I don't know, buddy."  
  
"I can't face 18 again after what she said... and what I said..."  
  
"You're going to have to. Running away won't help."  
  
"But I told you what she said!"  
  
"Yeah, she said some horrible things, Kuririn, but so did you. Hey, I know 18. She's not a bad person. Don't expect me to take sides against her."  
  
He was right, of course. I just felt so screwed up. Everything had been going so well. How could it have gone bad so quickly?  
  
Yamucha treated me pretty good. He let me take a nap on the bed in one of his guest rooms, he made me dinner, and he sympathized with me, but then he told me I had to go.  
  
"You have to work it out," he told me. "It's just gonna make things worse for everybody if I get in the middle of it." He half-smiled. "Good luck. Man, I hope it works out for you. You deserve it."  
  
I didn't bother to ponder the accuracy of that sendoff as I flew slowly to the Kame House. I just thought about the upcoming confrontation and wasn't sure I could handle it. All my will was gone, I didn't have any left. I wondered if 18 would even still be there when I arrived.  
  
I knocked on the door. That was the only time in my life I ever knocked on that door. Oolong answered.  
  
"Kuririn," he said. "Come on in."  
  
And right there in the living room was 18, and Roshi-sama was with her. He rose to meet me and put his hands on my shoulders. He wasn't wearing his sunglasses. I was shocked - I always am - by the clarity and intensity of his uncovered eyes.  
  
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked me earnestly.  
  
I swallowed. "I think so, Master Roshi. Thank you."  
  
He then let me be so I could talk to 18. My silence was not fair to her, but it wasn't intentional: I couldn't find any words.  
  
"Kuririn," she said, "you came back." She looked fairly composed except that her lip was shaking. "I've been talking to Roshi and Oolong for a long time. I got really angry at you, but it was just... um... Look. I felt so scared and alone and you seemed so happy... I wanted you to understand how I felt, so I hurt you."  
  
What could I say to that? I nodded.  
  
"I know it's terrible. I wasn't thinking straight. Anyway, I decided I was going to do my best to have this child and to raise it with you. I'll do the best I can, but you just have to promise that you'll help me."  
  
"Okay," I said after a considerable pause. "Okay, 18, I think that's what we should do."  
  
"Good. Now... will you... come to me?"  
  
I was, I should point out, still standing at the other side of the room. I bit my lip and closed my eyes, holding back tears. "I don't know if I can."  
  
"Kuririn... Kuririn, I'm sorry. Please."  
  
Finally, I walked toward her. I accepted her embrace, coldly at first, but then I pressed hard into it and sobbed.  
  
"Sorry, 'm sorry," I mumbled. "I love you, 18."  
  
"I love you," she said back, and kissed me on the head.  
  
We held each other and shared love and pain. It was bittersweet because we had said things that can't be taken back, no matter how badly you want to; nasty things that sting and make you unable to look at someone without hesitating, but so help you, you meant. But we needed each other, and we held on to one another no matter how much it hurt, because love is a powerful adhesive, and stronger than pain - if only just.  
  
--END OF CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO-- 


	33. A Few True Stories

Chapter 33: A Few True Stories

"18 held my hand as we sat in the small, office-styled room and listened to the doctor talk. They had used MRI and a CAT scan to create images of the inside of 18's body. They also did a blood test called a "maternal serum screening", which can indicate the presence of some birth defects (it looked normal, although they said that that test isn't always accurate). He was talking about potential problems with the pregnancy."

So the words stood on the display of Kuririn's computer. They sat there like a part of the landscape, unchanging for what seemed like ages. In fact, the words had been there for a week. He had tried twice already to add more, but met with little success.

---

"No," said 18, "this isn't right at all."

"Huh?"

"How can you write about my 'amazing bravery and resolve' when they told me that they would have to do a C-section? Kuririn, I've never been more afraid in my life. I was delirious with fear. I thought I'd pass out."

Consternated confusion clouded Kuririn's big eyes. "But I could have sworn... I mean, after how you were before, I remember being awed by how well you took it..."

"When we got home, I sat in the corner and didn't say anything for four hours. Do you remember that?"

"No... aw, geez, I'm sorry."

"Well," she said, "just don't write it like this. It isn't the truth."

---

Truth, Kuririn had discovered, was an elusive thing. Paging back through the manuscript in his mind, he realized that he had misrepresented a lot of things. He had never really shouted to the monks at the Orinji temple that he was going to become the "strongest warrior the world has ever known." He DID have a little blip of memory from the first time he had died... or had he imagined that? He had made to jump off of Karin tower before going to the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budokai, but thought better of it and climbed down. 18 had not asked Yamucha about his sword until the third or fourth time that they visited his house together. Kurirn had not purposefully lied about these things, but it wasn't that his memory was faulty. Rather, it's just the way memory is - For anyone, one's memory is their truth about the past, but this and what really happened get skewed sometimes.

---

18 lay dazed and woozy on the hospital bed. Under her gown, stitches mingled a fresh scar with an old one. Still her eyes snapped forward with amazing intensity.

"Where's the baby?" She said. "I need to see the baby." She began to get up.

"Hey, take it easy," said Kuririn. "Hey... at least let me help you up."

"I'll be dead before I need help standing up," said 18. "I need to see the baby."

It was not far, after all, to where Marron rested. An early birth, she required special care. She was lit by a soft yellow light.

Kuririn and 18 saw a view of tiny simple humanity that takes all first-time parents by surprise."It looks so small and helpless," said 18.

Kuririn smiled. "Yeah. Babies are like that."

18 leaned in. "Hello, little one," she said. "I'm your mother."

Kuririn thought he felt a heavy tremor in his heart when she said this. He couldn't think of a thing to say. He barely noticed a few tears streaming down his cheeks.

"I'm happy, Kuririn. It's not just that I'm happy to have it over with. I feel good about this. Um... you're crying."

"Sorry," he said. "I guess I can't handle this much happiness."

"Don't be so sentimental," she mumbled, but she was looking at Marron and smiling softly.

---

Having turned off his computer, Kuririn looked at himself in the mirror. God, he looked so old. It was only fifty-two years. What did this white hair and these harsh creases think they were doing on his body? The evidence of too much fighting, he guessed. Too many crises. He washed his face and hands carefully before going out to face the others. He wasn't vain, but he was beginning to worry about looking too wizened. It didn't work for him.

---

Kuririn's face sagged with grief. "Aw, no," he said, "not Gohan. Damn it, he was a good kid. He shouldn't have had to die like that."

Despite the ongoing effort to find a way to fight Buu, despair was predominant on the Lookout. Buu was so strong that trying to understand his power was impossible. He'd played with Vegeta like a toy. He'd killed Son Gohan. He'd killed everyone on Earth! It had happened so quickly. Kuririn went once more through the only live kis he could sense on Earth: Tenshinhan, Chaozu, Mr. Satan, Buu. He suddenly felt so cold that he had to wrap his arms around himself.

Kuririn's eyes caught on Goku and the cold lifted a little. As long as Goku was around, there was still hope. True, his resurrection was only temporary, but he was still Goku, right? If anyone could beat such a monster, it'd be him.

"Goku," said Kuririn, "You being alive is our silver lining in these dark times. At least you can beat Buu, right?"

But when Goku looked at him, the hollow look in his eyes inspired no hope. "He's so much stronger than me, Kuririn. If I go Super Saiyan 3 I can fight him, but I couldn't keep that up for long. I'll try, but no, I don't think I can beat him. Sorry."

Goku looked so sad that Kuririn put a hand on his shoulder. Goku smiled. "You don't have to comfort me, old buddy. I'm already dead. I just feel bad for you guys."

Kuririn despaired. Until now, he'd been kind of desensitized to tragedy, but he was losing so much this time - not just his life, but his wife and daughter. He made his way over to 18, resolving to spend his last moments with her. Marron was over bothering Piccolo. He'd have to get her soon, but not just yet. He didn't want her to see him as he was right now.

"Hey, 18."

"Hello, Kuririn."

He couldn't help himself - he just started to cry. He bit his lip to try to stop.

She looked at him. "Kuririn?"

I'm sorry, 18, it's just.... I really thought everything was going to be okay this time, you know? And now..." he spread his arm around him feebly.

18 bent down and hugged him tightly. "Be strong," she said. Oh, he would try.

---

"Hey, 18," he said again.

She looked up for a moment between throwing clothes into the wash. "Hello." Looking away again, she asked, "Making progress on your book?"

He sighed. "No. You know, 18, I expected autobiography to be easier than fiction, but it's even harder than that. I'm not getting anywhere. I can't believe how much of my life I've put into this thing. I mean, I'm old. As old as I am, what am I doing with myself?"

18 started the cycle. "You're a husband and a father. You play poker three times a week with Yamucha. We go to Miyamoto-san's house for parties. You work on your book."

"Yeah. I just wish I felt better about the book right now."

18 ran a hand through her own hair, and then placed it on her hip. "Well, why are you writing it?"

Kuririn shrugged. "I guess I just want to tell the truth... Nah. Nah, it's more than that. Telling my life is like living it again, and it helps me work out my issues. Lately, I've just had trouble remembering the details."

"Well, maybe the details aren't so important."

"Yeah." He scratched the place where most people would have a nose. "Yeah, maybe."

---

"And then I stepped in a big puddle and got my socks all wet but not my dress. It was a big puddle though! Maybe a sinkhole... daddy, listen!"

"Hai, Marron-chan. I'm listening." Marron clung to Kuririn's neck as they flew toward Kame Island.

"And Chihiro got mad 'cause I splashed her. But, she wasn't real mad. And then we both went... Mommy! You see her?"

"Hai. I sure do."

Landing on the beach, Kuririn put down his daughter, who ran with a funny little bounce toward 18.

"Hello, Marron," said 18. "How was your day at school?"

Marron fiddled aimlessly with a ribbon for a few seconds and then shrugged. "'s okay."

"Hmm. Did you get beaten up?"

"No."

"Did Kuririn-san drop you on the way home?"

She made a face. "No!"

18 smiled in a way that was intended to be ironic, but came out mostly sincere. "Well, then I think it was a pretty good day."

---

Marron landed the flying car, gathered her stuff, and entered the house. She waved hello to Muten Roshi and entered the kitchen where her parents were.

Kuririn saw his daughter enter the room. She was quite pretty, although of course she had no nose. Kuririn felt badly about that; she'd gotten a lot of grief for it. She dealt with it, though, like she dealt with the fact that she lived on an island with a cyborg and a dwarf for parents and like she dealt with the fact that most of their friends were super-powerful people who regularly saved the world. None of these things bothered her too much; the abnormal was ordinary to Marron.

She took some orange juice from the refrigerator and talked to her mother. They talked about the mundane matters of everyday life - allowances and grocery errands and scholarship applications. Marron took off her backpack and let her hair out of its fastenings. After a time she turned to Kuririn.

"Hi, dad," she said. "Did you get a lot of work done on your book today?"

"You know your silly old father," he said. "Always getting distracted by one thing or another."

"Hmm... You should finish that pretty soon and move on to something else."

"Yeah, I should. So, how was school today?"

Marron put her fingers to her temples. "Ooooh my god, you should see the assignments I've got. It's like they think that I don't have a life!"

Kuririn laughed. "If that's the case, I should see you studying today instead of chatting online, right?"

She frowned. "Go work on your book."

Kuririn smiled and thought about his daughter. She had always amazed him. Although she could appear at times a superficial teenage girl, she was much deeper than that. She was intelligent and intensely curious, brave and self-assured. She was courageous; he would never forget how she had refused to run when their lives were in danger. She wasn't a martial artist, and it was a relief to find she didn't have to be. She was fine just the way she was.

Raising Marron had been a good thing for Kuririn and 18; it had brought them out of of their shell and into the real world. Being the parents of a schoolchild, after all, required interaction with "normal" people. And while many people were ignorant and refused to accept anything outside of their narrow way of life, some were not - and it was with these people that worthwhile relationships could be formed.

It was inevitable that Kuririn and 18 would come to know the parents of Marron's best friend, Chihiro Miyamoto. For them, Chihiro was the youngest of four children (Marron would always be an only child because Kuririn had gotten a vasectomy right after her birth, but that's another story). At first their interaction with the couple had been guarded, but they finally opened up to them about their past and what they really were. When they reacted with interest instead of shock, Kuririn and 18 and Chihiro's parents began to become good friends. Now they went over regularly and Miyamoto-san joined Kuririn and Yamucha for poker.

Marron was not without problems. At times, she would become frustrated and seem near a breakdown. Overall, though, she was a strong and happy person and Kuririn was glad to be a father to her.

Kuririn sat alone that day and thought about the best and worst times of his life. With Buu they had seemed to have an almost surreally happy ending. Everyone, even Goku, was alive. The Earth had been restored. Even Buu, or at least what was good in him, had survived and become friendly. There seemed to be no losers. Everybody took stock of their lives and mellowed out. Goku's family, Bulma's family, Kuririn's family and Yamucha became like one big extended family. Kuririn remembered picnicking with Goku, shopping with Chichi, even going to the fair with Vegeta. Those next ten years were mostly like a dream.

Then, of course, the Earth was threatened again. Finally sitting out of the adventures, Kuririn didn't understand the events that followed much. They seemed to be a kind of Grand Tour of suffering. This much was clear: Goku had somehow been turned back into a child, and then he, Trunks, and Gohan's little daughter Pan had to go on a hunt across the galaxy for dragon balls that would destroy the Earth unless collected again within a year. Knowing that was weird, and made Kuririn feel more helpless than anything else. Then, an alien with a vendetta against the Saiyans came to Earth and made things terrifying for a while. The thing that tore Kuririn's life apart was when Number 17 was possessed by a force from Hell.

Dr. Gero and a Dr. Myu about whom Kuririn knew little built a second android 17 in Hell. They opened up Hell and unleashed its terrors upon Earth. The new 17 eventually joined with the first to form Super 17, the most powerful cyborg ever imagined. However, it wasn't Super 17 or the 17 from Hell that confronted Kuririn and 18. It was 18's brother, the man who had come to their wedding. He wasn't like himself. He was violent, and the humanity had vacated his eyes. He seemed under a spell.

---

"Come with me, 18. We need to serve Sir Doctor Gero," he said.

"What? You aren't my brother..."

"We were meant to be together. Come with me and we'll rule the world."

Kuririn and Marron were terrified to see that 18 actually fell under his influence. The humanity left her eyes too and she walked toward him, that in her which was machine following a directive.

Kuririn panicked. He had to say anything to bring her out of it. "18, you're my wife!" he shouted.

Mercifully, it worked. 18 turned around. "Kuririn?"

"Don't listen to that human," said 17. Kuririn then turned on him.

"17, what's wrong with you? You'd never call Doctor Gero 'sir'."

17 almost came out of it too right then. Oh, the trouble that would have been saved if only he had. But he didn't, and he killed Kuririn with a ki blast.

Kuririn would curse that moment more than any other. Not for himself - it was hardly the first time he'd been killed - but because his wife and child had to watch him die. He couldn't imagine how much that made them suffer.

As usual, Kuririn floated aimlessly in undefined space. He was both conscious and not conscious of this; his soul both existed and did not exist. Then, after a period of time he could not name, he became aware.

Kuririn awoke in blank white space. When he realized this, he panicked and scrambled until he found purchase, though upon what he wasn't sure.

"Where am I?"

"Alone," came a voice. Kuririn saw a familiar figure coming toward him.

"Frieza."

Frieza spread his hands out before him in a graceful, fluid motion. "I'm glad to be recognized."

"But... but you're..."

"Dead? That makes two of us."

Kuririn broke out into a sweat. He clenched his fists. "I'm not afraid of you, Frieza," he lied.

Frieza raised his eyebrows. "No? And why is that?"

When Goku had come back for the 25th Budokai, he'd told Kuririn that he had become stronger than Frieza. Kuririn knew that Goku would never lie about something like that.

"I'm stronger than you," Kuririn said.

Frieza drew a fist up to his mouth. "Oho... did you just say that you... ho ho... HA HA HA!"

"Stop laughing."

"You... you actually think... ha ha ha!"

"Stop laughing!"

"Ha ha ha ha..."

Kuririn's ki flare and temper erupted. "I'm going to KILL you, Frieza!"

Frieza looked at him with a deranged smile. "Come!"

The fighters came at each other instantaneously. They exchanged blows so quickly it made the air pop and crackle. Kuririn hit Frieza many times, making him bleed from the nose and mouth, but Frieza's attacks never diminished in intensity, and Kuririn began to wear down. Eventually they separated.

Frieza said, "I'll give you this much, insect: you've improved. Actually making me fight."

Kuririn made 20 Kienzan and threw them at Frieza, but he dodged them all. Frieza appeared behind him.

"But you're mistaken if you think you can beat me by getting stronger," he said.

Frieza knocked Kuririn to the ground. Then, grabbing his hair, he beat him repeatedly and viciously. "You'll never be good enough, don't you see? You're a wimp! It's a miracle and a fluke that you've made it this far. You've never been anything but a burden to others; you don't even have the courtesy to stay dead!"

"Goku..." moaned Kuririn.

"Your friend isn't coming to save you. In fact, he'll never be there for you again!"

"18..."

"Oh, calling for your wife. Tell me, do you really think that she loves you for who you are?"

Frieza dropped Kuririn and began to kick him.

"Worthless piece of shit. You disgust me."

Even as he coughed up blood, Kuririn's eyes opened in realization. "You're… you're not Frieza."

Frieza did not stop. "What?"

"You're… not…" Kuririn jumped to his feet. "Frieza!"

Kuririn flew at Frieza and knocked him down. He pummeled his head until he was unconscious, ruining his perfect, pretty face. Kuririn then jumped back, charged up an enormous Kamehameha, and blew away Frieza's body with it. There was nothing left.

Kuririn spat out blood. "I know those insults too well. That wasn't Frieza. It was… me."

All of Kuririn's self-loathing had manifested in the form of Frieza, the most hateful and dominating being from Kuririn's past. Kuririn confronted himself and realized that he was good enough, that he did matter, and that somehow, his life was going to turn out all right. Letting go of his anxiety, he drifted from that realm into another.

He appeared in an indescribably enormous room in front of the desk of the Honorable Lord Enma. "Well," said the giant Enma, "It took you long enough. Your spirit had some issues with itself to get over before it could come here."

"This is the afterlife?" Kuririn said. "Where do I go from here?"

"Well, ordinarily we'd sort you, but I don't think we'll bother."

"Um… Why not?"

He jabbed an enormous finger in Kuririn's direction. "Because YOU, sir, are the absolute WORST being ever at staying dead! You'll probably be brought back to Earth any second now."

Kuririn stared blankly off into space. "18… I need to get back to Earth and see my wife again…"

Enma grunted. "Well, I don't know how this resurrection business works exactly - personally I don't like it, it makes the paperwork a real mess – but maybe you have some amount of control over where you're brought back."

So Kuririn sat and thought about 18. He thought about Marron too. He thought about Yamucha and Goku and Muten Roshi, but above all he thought about 18. And it didn't seem long at all before a short, sharp jerk brought him back to his flesh.

The first thing he saw was Number 18 sitting in the grass at that place that used to be theirs. Her eyes were closed, but they began to open slowly.

"Wow, I guess it worked," said Kuririn.

18 saw him and stood up at a start. "Ah! Kuririn? I can't… is that really you?"

"Yeah," he said. "It's good to be back."

Her eyes narrowed as if she were in physical pain. "But how?"

"I don't know," he said honestly, for he wouldn't find out until later that Goku brought him back with the last wish that Shenlong would ever grant. Then, just as honestly, he said, "Does it matter?"

"Yes! Well… no. I don't know."

18 looked down and held her own arm. She looked uncomfortable. "I came here because… I don't know. I was thinking about you." She sat back down.

Kuririn sat down next to her. "Are you doing okay?" he asked.

"Kuririn, I..." she looked at him. "You're back. You're really back."

Kuririn smiled and put his arm around her. "Yeah, I'm here."

18 began to cry. She bent her head to her knees and cried in rough, choking sobs. Kuririn immediately felt her terrible suffering.

"Hey," he said, feeling ineffectual, "it's okay."

"I had to watch you die," she said. "I saw you on the ground… you were dead. There was no life in you at all, and I thought, 'Oh my god, I'm never going to see him again. I'm never…'" She started crying even harder.

For several minutes Kuririn sat with 18 and held her while she cried. He felt so pained to see her like this. She'd cried before, but never like this. It was frightening to see her in such a state – her despair was total. Finally, she stopped and spoke to him again.

"Goku and I had to kill 17."

"Oh, man… that's horrible."

She nodded slowly. "I can't stand to lose you, Kuririn. Please don't leave me again."

"I won't," Kuririn said, deliberately ignoring the implications of such an answer.

A chilly mountain air blew through the pause in their speech, lifting the blades of grass all around them.

"We need to get home," she said. "I'm worried about Marron. She hasn't spoken much since you… umm. Died."

They were met at the door of the Kame house by an enthusiastic greeting from Roshi and Oolong. Marron ran up to Kuririn and tackle-hugged him.

She looked up at him and smiled, but she smiled through obvious pain that made Kuririn's heart break. "Dad, I'm… I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you too, sweetheart," Kuririn said.

Marron fought off a sob and wiped unforgivingly at the tears streaming from her eyes with her knuckles. "I'm... I'm sorry," she mumbled.

18 put a hand to her daughter's cheek. "You don't have to be sorry, little one. Sometimes it's good to cry."

Kuririn felt conflicted. Two of the strongest people he knew were in tears. Shouldn't he be crying too? Somehow, he couldn't find any tears left in him to cry.

---

Kuririn remembered lying on the floor with 18 and Marron and not wanting to move. They were all so very tired, so weary of hardship. It was hard to pick up and start again after that. It took a heroic effort just to get a normal life going again.

Kuririn, a simple, small 52-year-old man, sat on the beach and marveled at the peace all around him. No storms brewed in the sea or sky. No aliens or androids threatened the Earth. His daughter went to school and hung out with her friends. His wife went out shopping, then came home and drew a picture. He made dinner and some tea. Life went on.

A lot had been lost the last time peace had been won. Kuririn knew that he would never see Goku again. On that same day that he had been resurrected, Goku had come to see Kuririn for one last spar, and there was an unspoken understanding that it was the end of their lifelong friendship. Piccolo and Buu were dead for good. Dende's dragon balls had been destroyed, forever ending Shenlong's unreal influence on reality. From now on, consequences were consequences. Kuririn wasn't sure whether or not he liked it better that way.

Kuririn knew that it would be easy to despair, to consider peace a fleeting thing and threat an inevitability, but only a fool could look at circumstances like these and not be content. Kuririn had few goals left; he was done getting stronger, and he knew that enlightenment was out of his reach within this lifetime. There was nothing left now but to live and be content. Kuririn was thankful to have the chance to live that way. He'd had his share of excitement; let the young deal with that now.

Kuririn said good night to his daughter – she was chatting online, no big surprise – and to Muten Roshi and went to bed. He sat up and did a crossword puzzle until 18 joined him.

"You did a lot of brooding today," she said. "Feeling all right?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about the book," he said. "I think I've got a pretty good idea of how I'll finish it now."

"I'm thinking of going into selling real estate," she said. "I think I could make pretty decent money that way."

Kuririn looked up from his crossword. "Really? You've never done much selling."

She shrugged. "How hard could it be? Anyway, it's just something I've been tossing around."

"Well, do whatever makes you happy."

"Hm. Great advice, huh? Why would I do anything else?"

Kuririn laughed. "You've got me there."

"Are you ready to go to sleep?" she asked.

"I suppose so," he said, and put his book away. "Good night, 18. I love you."

"I love you too, Kuririn," she said, and turned out the light.

Kuririn could never be totally sure whether 18 was sleeping or doing a good imitation of it, but these days she did either one fairly quickly. He admired her face in the moonlight that came through the window. She was still very pretty, although there was no longer any denying that she was aging. For a while 18's appearance hadn't changed much, which had given them cause to wonder whether she was aging at all, but now he could see the slight creases in her face and the white starting in among her blonde hair. This was simply a fact of life, and nothing alarming. It was good that they should grow old together, Kuririn thought. After all, what business did an old man have with a wife who was artificially young forever?

Kuririn felt comfortable with 18. Their love was no longer a desperate, fiery passion. Instead, they lived together, enjoyed each other's company, and supported each other during the hard times. That was the kind of love that would last until the end of their lives.

Kuririn had a good night's sleep. The next morning, he got up, had some breakfast and a cup of chai, and sat down to write a true story.

---

Here's a story about a hero.

The matches were to start soon and Goku was still nowhere to be found. Kuririn, having been appointed to track him down, found him in the locker room. When he found him, however, he didn't look eager to fight. In fact, he looked terrible.

"Goku?" said Kuririn.

Goku must have been pretty lost in thought, because he was actually surprised to hear Kuririn's voice. "Oh, hello Kuririn," he said. "I'm not crying, am I?"

Goku looked about ready to cry, but no tears actually wet his face. "No," Kuririn said evenly.

"Good," Goku said, "because I don't cry. I guess you've been sent to get me, huh?"

"What's wrong, Goku?"

Goku grabbed the back of his head. "Oh, it's nothing really. I mean... oh, Hell. I can't go back out there."

Kuririn, for his part, was trying not to freak out. He'd never seen Goku so disturbed, and it was... well... disturbing. "Why not?" he said.

"I can't face my family. I mean, the look they were giving me... my wife and my sons. Oh my God, my SONS! Why didn't anybody tell me?"

"You were dead, Goku. We can't exactly send you a newsletter."

"Yeah, I know," Goku said. "It's all my fault."

"What? Come on, Goku! You died defending the Earth from Cell! How could anyone fault you for that?"

Goku looked at the floor. Quietly, he said, "How can I make you understand?"

The PA announced the start of the junior tournament in five minutes. Neither Kuririn nor Goku moved.

"Kuririn," said Goku, "Do you remember when I gave the senzu to Cell?"

Kuririn's face darkened. Did he ever. "Yeah."

"Do you know why I did that?"

"You said you wanted it to be a fair fight."

"It was all a game to me, Kuririn. Like some big stupid martial arts tournament. You remember how I used to let my opponents beat me up before I started fighting, right? That was the same thing. My head was never in it. Every fight was just another contest of strength. That time my son was stronger than me, so I thought he'd play the same part. But I was wrong."

Goku fixated on the palm of his hand. "When I saw Cell beating up Gohan, something clicked. I realized what everyone else had known all along - just how serious it was. I mean, I'd known, but I didn't really understand until that moment. And you don't know what it was like, Kuririn. For the first time in my life, I was scared... really, really scared. And it made me feel so powerless..." He clenched his fist tight.

Kuririn was alarmed. "Goku!" he cried out.

"I wasn't planning to sacrifice my life or anything," Goku went on. "But when Cell started that bomb, it all seemed to fall into place. That way, I could undo the damage I'd done, and I wouldn't have to live with the fact that I'd almost gotten us all killed by being so cocky. And the reason that I didn't want you guys to bring me back was that I knew I could never be the same kind of leader for you guys again. I didn't have that perfect confidence anymore."

Goku finally looked Kuririn right in the eyes. "But I guess even that was a screw-up, huh? Now I've got a son who doesn't know me and a family that I abandoned. I thought it would be okay if I came back for a little while, but Gohan won't look at me like he used to and Goten won't look at me at all."

Kuririn sighed. "Goku... Man, Goku. How could you think we'd hold that against you, after all you've done for us...? So you screwed up. Hell, we all screw up. We never asked you to be perfect."

"But I--"

"Goku, I don't think you realize how much we all love you. I mean..." The words stuck in his throat, but it was important to get them out, so he did. "...I know how much I love you."

Goku blushed and looked away. "Geez, Kuririn."

"I'm serious. You're... you give us hope. And it's not because you have "perfect confidence" or because you're a mega-strong Super Saiyan, either. It's just the way you do everything to pull through, the way you stand up and face the bad guys, that great smile... We're lost without you, Son Goku. There are no ill feelings for you here."

"And yeah," Kuririn said, gesturing at the door, "There's obviously some issues between you and your kids. I'm not gonna lie... that'd probably take some time to work out. But you don't really have time... you've got 24 hours. And all we really want is our Goku back. So just be yourself, and try to have a little fun, okay?" Kuririn stopped and tried to calm down the nervous fluttering in his stomach. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to say some of the things he'd said. He prayed for them to take hold.

"...Thanks, Kuririn," Goku said, and stood up. "I think I'll be okay now."

"Huh? Oh, really? That's great. So we can go?"

"Yeah," said Goku, and they started to head for the door. "Oh, um, Kuririn?"

"What is it, Goku?"

"I love you too. I mean... I don't mean anything funny. You know."

Now it was Kuririn's turn to blush. "Yeah," he said, "I know."

Here's a story about surviving.

After Buu's defeat, Goku, Mr. Satan, Vegeta and (oddly enough) Buu returned to the lookout. Once Goku had managed to talk Piccolo out of attacking Buu, there was an enormous feeling of relief as everyone adjusted to the idea of being safe again. Someone said, "Thank God it's over." Someone else cracked a smile. It was Goku who started laughing, and then the tension broke. Kuririn hugged 18, Pu'ar hugged Yamucha, Chichi hugged Goku, and Buu, who loved a celebration, hugged everyone except for Piccolo and Vegeta. Vegeta remarked that he was happy everyone had made it. It was an amazing scene.

After explanations and wishes had been worked out and the least socially inclined of the group had gone home, the only thing left to talk about was what to do next.

"I can't wait to get home," Kuririn said, holding Marron close to his face. "I think I'm just gonna watch television and zone out."

"Home..." said Oolong. "It'll be weird to go home, won't it? Even though it hasn't been that long, everything's changed."

"Hey, Goku," started Yamucha, "What are you going to do with your new lease on life? I mean, where can you go that you haven't been yet?"

Goku laughed. "Home! Yeah, I'm going to see if I can stay put for a while."

"Hey, that doesn't sound much like Goku," Kuririn said, playing the devil's advocate. "No trips on foot around the world? No armies to take on?"

"Ahh, I've got other things to do..."

"Hmpf!" said Chichi, wrapping an arm tightly around Goku. "He'll stay put if I have to chain him down!"

Here's a story about playfulness.

Marron squealed with delight as Goku ran around the yard with her on his shoulders. "Faster, faster!" she shouted.

"Hey, Marron, is that your Dad down there?" Goku shouted, stopping in front of Kuririn.

Marron waved. "Hi, Daddy!"

Kuririn smiled and put a hand to his brow, mock squinting. "Is that you up there, Marron-chan? How'd you get up so high? I can barely see you!"

"I'm riding on Goku-san's shoulders, papa," she said as a matter of fact.

"What, me?" said Goku, giving Kuririn a private smile. "I'm just a ghost! You must be flying, Marron."

She hit him in the head. "You're being silly!"

"Me, silly? I'm not the one who's talking to a ghost!"

Here's a story about myopia.

Kuririn, Gohan, and Goku sat under a tree. Goku was watching the nearby river intently for something. Gohan was trying to read a book.

"Gohan, are you sure you don't want to help me fish?"

"Later, dad." Gohan held the book close to his face and squinted, then let it drop into his lap. "Argh! I can't read this!"

Goku turned around. "Really?" He squatted down and looked at the book. "It is kind of hard to read, isn't it?" He pointed to the page. "What's this word mean?"

"No," Gohan said, "I can't see it."

Kuririn took the book from Gohan's lap and read a few lines aloud. "Hmm, you can't read this?" he said. "Gohan, you must need glasses."

"Aw, no way! I mean... I'm not even 25 yet!"

Goku grinned. "Heh-heh. It's no big surprise. You read so much, it was bound to happen sooner or later."

Gohan sweatdropped and snatched the book back into his lap. "Well... someone has to do the reading in this family."

"I'm glad it's you," said Goku, turning back to the river. "Stand back, guys! I'm gonna show you how to catch dinner the way my Grandpa used to do it!"

Here's a story about "power levels".

Goku and Vegeta had both gotten bored, and bored Super Saiyans are a very dangerous thing. Thus it was that there came to be organized a private martial arts tournament, fought in the desert but affectionately termed the "Backyard Budokai" because of Goku's original idea to hold it in his backyard. There were only 8 participants and only about 30 spectators, who sat at a respectful distance under a shaded canopy. They had borrowed Budokai announcer Akira Maeda, Pu'ar worked the camera, and Dende was somewhat begrudgingly on hand for healing. It was an exciting and fun, if incredibly dangerous, get-together.

The fourth match of the first round put Kuririn up against Goten, and Kuririn was worried. After all, it had been several years now since Buu, and there was no telling how much stronger Goten had become in that time. Since they'd forbidden going Super Saiyan during the matches, Kuririn had thought he had a pretty good chance, but Goten's cockiness and bragging about getting an "easy match" had put him on edge. Actually, he wasn't sure whether the prospect of winning or losing made him more nervous; after all, if he did win he was to face his wife in the next round.

"Try not to hurt me, Kuririn," joked Goten.

The tease made him bitter. "I'm not making any promises."

Goten came at Kuririn first with a simple blow so obvious that Kuririn was able to dodge it and trip him. Goten went into a roll and stood back up on the other side of him.

"Come on," Kuririn said, "that's no way to fight."

Goten flashed a grin and attacked again. This time, Kuririn grabbed his arm and flipped him to the ground, but he didn't press the attack further.

"Quit clowning around and fight," he said. "You'll never get anywhere like that."

"He he he... you're right, Kuririn," said Goten as he stood back up again. "I was going to take it easy on you to keep from embarrassing you too much, but it looks like I might lose if I don't take it seriously."

"Uh huh," said Kuririn. He hoped the kid was bluffing.

Goten assumed a fighting stance. "I'm ready now," he said. "You attack first."

Kuririn went in to kick Goten. Goten grabbed his leg, but that left an opening which Kuririn quickly took advantage of with a right hook that Goten had to let go of the leg to dodge. Goten went to punch Kuririn in the gut, but Kuririn deflected his fist and tried to hit him in the head. The two fighters went through hundreds of such exchanges at rapid speed. As Kuririn had feared might be the case, Goten was a good deal faster and stronger than him - the rate at which these Saiyan kids progressed was just obscene. His relative inexperience made him predictable, which was the only reason that Kuririn wasn't already starting to wear down, but there was no doubting his advantage in strength.

The two seperated. Goten shouted "Ha!" and threw a bolt of ki at Kuririn, but Kuririn bounced it right back at him. Goten took the blast, and Kuririn tried to use the opportunity to press forward, but Goten was quickly on top of him again. Goten's strength made Kuririn parry more often than block, which made him lose some ground. Also, from a combination of luck and beginning to figure out Kuririn's fighting style, Goten managed to deliver a few hits, which didn't help. Kuririn drew back to regroup, but Goten was on him again almost immediately.

Running out of options, Kuririn concentrated his ki to its maximum, causing his ki flare to erupt around him. The boost in power and speed enabled him to gain a temporary advantage, and he delivered several unanswered hits to Goten, but the advantage didn't last long. Soon he was on the defensive again, and before long he was on the ropes. He escaped a ring-out by falling backwards into a short flight above Goten's head, but he was running out of energy and he knew that he'd be knocked down for a count soon.

The whole situation made Kuririn a little angry. Here he was, about to lose to a kid who almost never did any training. He put all he had into one more charge, and that was when his ki exploded.

Kuririn's Ki flare flashed and engulfed the ring. His hit carried so much unexpected power behind it that knocked Goten flat on his back.

"What the..." Kuririn said, but he knew the answer to his question before he finished forming it. He had hit his limit. This was it - he was never going to get any stronger. Coming when it did, though, this was a blessing. He knew that the match was in the bag now.

"Go, Kuririn!" shouted Goku from the side. "That was great!"

Goten got up angrily. "My own father! Shouldn't you be rooting for me?"

Goku looked at him blankly. "Kuririn's a better fighter. You never do any training. He deserves to win, if you ask me."

"Grr!" Goten shouted. "That was a fluke!" He attacked again, but Kuririn was in complete control now. Every time Goten came on, Kuririn avoided his assault and hit him soundly. After getting hit in the stomach, Goten flew away from Kuririn and grasped his midsection.

"This isn't fair!" he said. "If I could go Super Saiyan, I'd win."

"If you need to go Super Saiyan to beat me, Goten, then maybe you're too dependent on it," Kuririn said, walking toward him now.

"'Too dependent?' That's it." Goten went Super Saiyan.

"Hey," the shouts came from the sideline, "That's a disqualification!" But Goten clearly didn't care.

He screamed and launched himself with blinding speed at Kuririn, but he just stepped out of the way. Goten turned around and did the same thing again, but this time Kuririn hit him hard in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground.

A hush went over the crowed. Had Kuririn really KOed a Super Saiyan?

Yamucha poked the announcer. "Start the count."

"Oh, of course! Ten, nine, eight..."

Goten failed to get up in time, and Kuririn was declared the winner. He smiled and held up the victory sign to a generous round of applause. Well, he thought, it's nice to have my day in the sun.

Goten groaned. "Oh man... I can't believe I lost."

"You could have had me," Kuririn said. "Don't get so anxious next time. A frustrated opponent is an easy opponent."

"How'd you get so much stronger?" asked Goten as Kuririn helped him up.

"Don't worry about it, I'm not getting stronger than this. You'll be much stronger than me soon. You might even have a shot at being one of the strongest. I think you'll find out that it doesn't matter that much, though."

"Try telling that to my dad."

Kuririn nodded. "Yeah, I know."

Here's a story about courage.

A van cruised down the street on the way to the girls' softball game. The van was driven by a benevolent middle-aged lady. One of the girls sitting in the back was Marron; another was sucking on a delicious hard caramel candy. Unfortunately, two things then happened at the same time: the girl with the candy inhaled to begin to speak and the van hit a pothole. The candy leapt down her throat and lodged in her air passage.

The girl grasped at her neck with her hands. She tried to yell, but couldn't make any sound. Her eyes became big, dark and frightened as she felt an intense fire in her throat. She felt like she was slowly burning to death from the inside.

Another girl looked on, frightened. "Are you okay? ...Oh no, she's choking!"

The car erupted in a panic. There was a lot of screaming, mostly "stop the car, stop the car!" The driver pulled over, went around to the back, and took the choking girl out and held her from behind. But then, seeing the girl squirm in mortal fear, she froze. Suddenly, she wasn't sure that she remembered what to do. Was she supposed to place her hand just under the ribcage, or...? She was acutely aware of the possibility of hurting her if she did anything wrong.

Before the woman had made up her mind, Marron walked over and put her arms around the choking girl. Remembering how the hands were placed on the diagram on the classroom wall, she performed the Heimlich manuever. On the fourth squeeze, the piece of candy shot out like a bullet and stuck to the sidewalk.

Marron got back in her seat and resumed the drawing she had been working on.

The incident would make local headlines. "It's not that big of a deal," Marron would be quoted as saying. "I just did what you're supposed to do. Anybody would have done it, right?"

---

"So, now we've come more or less to the present, and there isn't much left to write. I've been through a lot; I never honestly realized how much until I tried to write it all down. I'm not complaining; a lot of people have fared a lot worse than me. All in all, I've done pretty well.

When I started, I thought there would be some kind of big lesson I'd gotten out of all of this that I could pass on to you, but I still haven't thought of anything, and I guess it would be futile to try to come up with something. Just take this at face value, then: The story of a bunch of crazy stuff that I happened to witness and of something like a life spaced in between.

It feels wrong to write "the end" on your own autobiography, so I'll just say "see you later." I'm not dead for good yet, and I just might have a few more stories to tell before I am. I hope they're not as exciting as the ones I've told you here, though; I think you'll understand when I say that I'd like to take it easy for a while."

- Excerpted from "Only Human", Kuririn's autobiography

See you later…

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

A couple of weeks ago, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to finish this story the way I had originally wanted to. It's been three years now. Three years – I was sixteen when I started, and I'm nineteen now. The story has moved so agonizingly slowly through the last few chapters that the prospect of writing ten or twelve more was one I couldn't face. There comes a point where a project is no longer something driving you, but something hanging over your head, and I'm sorry to say that this project had reached that point for me.

However, it felt wrong to let the project just die after all this time, so I sat down to write something that would end it in a way that I would be satisfied with and provide some closure. What you see above is the result; I hope nobody's too disappointed in me. This is how the story ends, and I hope you enjoyed it. I did.

10/20/09 UPDATE: Hey readers. Want to see more from me? I just recently uploaded a short new story related to this one. I can't believe I'm advertising it here, but for some reason this story is still getting way more hits than my new one. Go to my profile to read "Excerpted from the logs of Artificial Human Number 18".


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